Nov 5 (Reuters) - Women's apparel retailer Bebe Stores Inc (BEBE.O) posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, as higher markdowns squeezed gross margins, sending its shares down more than 5 percent.

www.bebe.com

Like many others, the retailer has reduced inventories, lowered wages and shut stores to control costs as sales have slumped over the past year. For Bebe, the challenge continues as the company saw sales for the quarter drop 30 percent.

First-quarter net loss was $4.2 million, or 5 cents a share, compared with a profit of $11.2 million, or 12 cents per share, year ago.

Revenue fell to $125.7 million from $163.3 million in the year-ago quarter.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 2 cents a share on revenue of $129.1 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Gross margins fell to 36.7 percent in the first-quarter, compared with 44.9 percent a year ago, the company said in a statement.

Shares of the Brisbane, California-based retailer were down 34 cents in trading after the bell. They closed at $6.36 Thursday 5 November on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Shobhana Chadha in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva)