July 20 (Reuters) - Women's apparel retailer Cache Inc (CACH.O) posted a quarterly profit that beat market estimates by a cent as it cut costs to contend with a difficult sales climate, but forecast a loss for the third quarter.

Cache Inc

The New York-based company projected a loss of 17 cents a share to 22 cents a share for the third quarter, on net sales of $48 million to $50 million.

For the second quarter, the company posted net income of $845,000, or 7 cents per share, compared with $2.1 million, or 16 cents per share, a year ago.

Net sales at Cache, which sells sportswear and dresses for women between the ages of 25 and 45, fell 23 percent to $56.9 million.

Analysts on average expected the company to earn 6 cents per share, before special items, on revenue of $58.6 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Cache slashed its total expenses by 23 percent to $23.9 million.

Shares of the company closed at $4.05 Monday 20 July on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Viraj Nair in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)