HELSINKI, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Finnish department store group Stockmann (STCBV.HE) missed forecasts for third-quarter operating profit and said full year operating profit will undershoot expectations as it invested in expanding its stores, and as shortages of goods and capacity weighed.

Stockmann.com

Shares in the Finnish retailer, which operates clothing and household-goods chains as well as department stores in Scandinavia, Russia, eastern and southern Europe and the Gulf, fell as much as 4 percent and by 0923 GMT were down 2.5 percent at 26.76 euros.

"Stockmann's results and guidance were weak," FIM Bank wrote in it morning note.

Stockmann said full-year operating profit will be about 15-30 per cent higher than in 2009, between 98 million and 111 million euros. The high end of the range is lower than the average forecast of 114 million euros in the Reuters poll.

July-September operating profit rose around 4 percent to 18.4 million euros ($25.7 million), missing all forecasts in a Reuters poll that ranged from 19 million to 29 million euros.

"The pre-opening costs related to bringing the new investment projects into use and the expansion of operations have burdened the result especially in the second and third quarters of the year," Stockmann said.

Revenue rose by 8 percent to 420.7 million euros, in line with 421 million mean forecast in the poll. "The global growth in demand has led to shortages of production capacity and raw materials (i.e. cotton and polyester) and delays in autumn deliveries. This has had a negative impact on sales during recent months," Stockmann said.

($1=.7166 Euro) (Editing by Louise Heavens)