Limited's March same-store sales fall 8 percent

NEW YORK (Reuters) - Limited Brands Inc (LTD.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Thursday posted an 8 percent decline in March same-store sales, which was deeper than Wall Street expected, but in line with the retailer's outlook.

Analysts on average had been expecting a decline of 7.5 percent, according to Reuters Estimates.

The operator of the Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works chains said total sales were $733.2 million for the five weeks that ended April 5, down from $892.3 million a year earlier.

The timing of the Easter holiday, which was two weeks earlier than a year ago, hurt sales by 3 percentage points, the company said.

Sales at stores open at least a year fell 6 percent at Victoria's Secret as weak sales of beauty products and panties offset strong sales of bras.

At Bath & Body Works, same-store sales fell a worse-than-expected 13 percent, hurt by a decline in customer traffic.

Sales at the La Senza chain fell 4 percent.

Limited said it expected same-store sales to decline at a low-single-digit percentage rate in April.

(Reporting by Martinne Geller; Editing by Maureen Bavdek and Lisa Von Ahn)