Sally Beauty Q1 sails past Wall Street expectations

Feb 3 (Reuters) - Beauty supplies and hair products distributor Sally Beauty Holdings Inc's (SBH.N) quarterly results surpassed market expectations, driven by gross margin expansion and strong demand for its products.

Net income for October-December was $40.9 million, or 22 cents a share, compared with $26.1 million, or 14 cents a share, a year ago.

The company, which began with a single store in New Orleans in 1964 and now owns more than 3,800 stores, said sales rose 13 percent to $793.6 million for the quarter. Analysts on average had expected a profit of 19 cents a share, excluding special items, on revenue of $770.5 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Gross margins for the company, whose rivals include Ulta Salon, Cosmetics & Fragrance Inc (ULTA.O) and Regis Corp (RGS.N), rose 50 basis points.

For the quarter, sales at stores open for at least a year, or same-store sales, rose 6.4 percent.

Shares of the Denton, Texas-based company closed at $12.63 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Viraj Nair and Aditi Sharma in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)