UPDATE 3-Gafisa profit, revenue more than double, shrs jump

* Net profit rises in Q3 over year-ago period

* Shares rise 2.8 pct

* Company sees strong 2010 growth in developments (Recasts to add share prices)

By Guillermo Parra-Bernal and Luciana Lopez

SAO PAULO, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Brazilian real estate developer Gafisa (GFSA3.SA) said on Thursday third-quarter net income more than doubled on the back of higher revenues, even as the company reined in new housing launches.

Net income at the Sao Paulo-based company was 85.8 million reais ($49.8 million) in the quarter, compared with a profit of 30.9 million reais a year earlier, according to a securities filing. The figure includes stock options and minority partnerships in some ventures and assets.

The result beat the average expectations of four analysts polled by Reuters, who had expected profit of 79 million reais.

Common shares of Gafisa jumped 2.8 percent to 28.33 reais in Sao Paulo on Thursday. They have advanced 57 percent in the past 12 months.

Net revenue rose to 877.1 million reais in the third quarter from 379 million reais in the same period a year earlier.

Homebuilders, which were among the hardest hit by the global credit crisis that pushed Brazil into recession late last year, are gradually recovering thanks to a government program to boost access to housing.

Gafisa also said it foresees 1 billion reais or more of launches in the fourth quarter of 2009, bringing total sales to as much as 3.2 billion reais for the year.

"We're very optimistic about the opportunities in our sector and in Brazil in general," wrote Chief Executive Wilson Amaral in the filing.

"Our infrastructure is positioned to provide a significant increase in launch capacity in the fourth quarter and give a solid performance in 2010."

Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, a measure of operational profitability and cash generation known as EBITDA, rose to 176.4 million reais from 63.1 million reais last year.

Analysts had forecast a 129.4 million real EBITDA number.

EBITDA over revenue excluding stock options, known as adjusted EBITDA margin, jumped over 2 percentage points to 20.4 percent in the quarter from a year ago.

LAUNCHES

Still, the company launched 43 percent fewer developments in the third quarter due to uncertainty over the extent and duration of the economic recovery, the filing said. In terms of units, launches fell 48 percent to 3,621 units in the same period.

Inventory fell in the three months through Sept. 30 but at a slower pace than in the previous quarter. Sales velocity, a gauge of inventory destocking, was 22 percent in the third quarter, compared with 24 percent in the previous three months.

Gafisa said its land bank, or the inventory of property ready for development, totaled 15.3 billion reais at the end of September. Eighty-five percent of that land bank implies no carry costs for the company since it was acquired through transactions that didn't require immediate cash disbursements, the company said. ($1=1.722 reais) (Editing by Gerald E. McCormick, Dave Zimmerman)