UPDATE 1-Sapient Q3 EPS drops, sees strong Q4 service revenue

* Q3 EPS $0.04 vs $0.14 last year

* Revenue down 6 pct to $172.5 mln

* Sees Q4 service revenue up sequentially

Nov 5 (Reuters) - Sapient Corp (SAPE.O), a provider of business and technology consulting services, reported a smaller quarterly profit, hurt in part by charges, but forecast sequentially higher fourth-quarter service revenue.

The company forecast fourth-quarter service revenue of $172 million to $175 million, and said it expects adjusted operating margin of 10 percent to 11 percent.

Analysts on average were expecting fourth-quarter total revenue of $168.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

For the third quarter, the company posted a profit of $5.9 million, or 4 cents a share, compared with $18.1 million, or 14 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding special items, the company earned 11 cents a share.

Revenue fell 6 percent to $172.5 million, of which service revenue accounted for $165.5 million.

Analysts were looking for earnings of 7 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $162.0 million.

Sapient said charges related to restructuring, amortization of purchased intangible assets and acquisition costs totaled $5.3 million.

Shares of the Boston-based company, which have risen 55 percent in value over the last six months, closed at $8.60 Thursday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)