UPDATE 2-Benetton Q1 profit, sales up, outlook confirmed

(Adds quotes, share price, details, background)

By Gilles Castonguay

MILAN, May 14 (Reuters) - Italian clothing retailer Benetton turned in a 9 percent rise in first-quarter core profit on Wednesday on slightly higher sales, and confirmed its outlook for the year.

Benetton (BNG.MI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), known for its colourful jumpers, is aiming this year for a rise of at least 7 percent in its core profit and a similar rate for revenue.

"When looking at the autumn/winter orders, we're confident about achieving our objective," Chief Financial Officer Emilio Foa told analysts on a conference call. Foa said he expected orders for the collection to be 6-8 percent higher than the previous year.

Of the latest sales figures, Foa said May was turning out to be better than April, which had cool temperatures.

"I hate to talk about the weather but it did affect the performance (of sales)," he told analysts on a conference call.

"May (has) ... so far given us a different performance," he said. "We are confident on the overall collection's performance."

Shares in Benetton, which competes against Hennes & Mauritz (HMb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Zara of Inditex (ITX.MC: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), were up 2.36 percent at 8.817 euros.