UPDATE 1-Ariba Q3 profit beats Street by a cent

* Q3 adj EPS $0.17 vs est $0.16

* Q3 revenue falls slightly to $83.9 mln

* Q3 subscription software revenue up 25 pct

July 30 (Reuters) - Ariba Inc (ARBA.O), which provides procurement software and consulting services, posted a quarterly profit that beat market expectations by a cent, helped by a 25 percent rise in subscription software revenue.

Net income for the third quarter was $3.9 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with a loss of $4.3 million, or 5 cents a share, last year.

Excluding special items, the company earned 17 cents a share.

Revenue for the quarter fell by about 1 percent to $83.9 million. Subscription software revenue was $37.9 million, up 25 percent from last year.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 16 cents a share, on revenue of $84.2 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Shares of Sunnyvale, California-based Ariba closed at $10.87 Thursday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Saqib Iqbal Ahmed in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)