Bed Bath & Beyond Inc on Wednesday reported an unexpected rise in quarterly profit as the retailer cut costs to offset slumping consumer demand for home furnishings, and its shares rose 6 percent.

Net income for the fiscal first quarter ended on May 30 rose to $87.17 million, or 34 cents per share, from $76.78 million, or 30 cents per share, a year earlier.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 25 cents per share, according to Reuters Estimates.

Sales rose 2.8 percent to $1.69 billion, but sales at stores open at least a year, a key retail measure known as same-store sales, fell 1.6 percent.

Bed Bath & Beyond and peers like Pier 1 Imports Inc

and Williams-Sonoma Inc have seen sales weaken as the crumbling U.S. housing market erodes demand for the home furnishings that they sell. Bed Bath & Beyond has sought to battle the difficult environment in part by cutting costs and scaling back expansion.

Shares rose to $30.07 in late trading, up from a close on the Nasdaq of $28.39.

(Reporting by Nicole Maestri; Editing by Gary Hill)

United States