UPDATE 1-VF Corp says growth exceeding plans at jeans brand

(Adds details, CEO quotes)

DANA POINT, Calif., Jan 16 (Reuters) - VF Corp (VFC.N) Chief Executive Eric Wiseman said on Wednesday its newly acquired 7 For All Mankind premium jeans brand was "running ahead of our acquisition assumptions."

At the ICR XChange Conference for consumer companies, Wiseman told Reuters the high-profile label, which charges high prices for its jeans, was gaining market share amid a shakeout in the jeans business.

The apparel maker owns a diverse group of brands, including jeans names Wrangler, Lee and and outdoor brands like Nautica and the North Face and lifestyle brands like John Varvatos.

Its jeans brands and lifestyle brands show "very strong profitability," Wiseman said.

Wiseman said he did not see customers gravitating to lower price points and noted that the mix of prices within the jeans line had not changed.

Last week, the Greensboro, North Carolina-based company gave a bullish 2008 forecast, saying it expects earnings per share to rise 10 percent on a 9 percent increase in revenue.

Some 4 percent of that revenue growth should come from its 2007 acquisitions, including 7 For All Mankind, while 5 percent is an organic growth rate that reflected "substantial headwinds out there," Wiseman said.

Despite those economic headwinds, Wiseman said the company would still look to other companies that would beef up its varied portfolio of brands.

"We're not backing off from acquisitions at all, Wiseman said. "We're still very active in the acquisition space."

(Reporting by Alexandria Sage; Editing by Derek Caney, Richard Chang)

((alexandria.sage@reuters.com, +1 213 955 6781 Reuters Messaging: alexandria.sage.reuters.com@reuters.net)) Keywords: VFCORP/

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