By Alexandria Sage

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - VF Corp (VFC.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Tuesday its quarterly net profit beat analyst expectations, helped by its domestic and international retail businesses and its outdoor division, but it gave a second-quarter earnings view below Wall Street forecasts.

The apparel and footwear maker foresees no improvement, or major deterioration, in the macroeconomic environment for the remainder of 2008, but added results would improve in the second half of the year.

The company, whose brands include The North Face, Vans, 7 For All Mankind and Wrangler, said first quarter net profit from continuing operations was $149 million, or $1.33 per share, compared with $138.3 million, or $1.17 per share, a year earlier.

Analysts, on average, had been expecting earnings of $1.29 on revenue of $1.84 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Sales rose 10 percent in the quarter to $1.85 billion, the company said. Revenues rose 18 percent in the company's outdoor division, but fell 6 percent and 11 percent, respectively, in its jeans-wear and sportswear divisions.

U.S. consumers are gravitating to lower-priced jeans, while retailers are trimming inventories, VF said, adding that the jeans business would improve in coming quarters.

"We're still seeing lots of promotional activity out there, exacerbated by cooler than normal weather in much of the country, which means seasonal goods are moving slowly," said Chief Executive Eric Wiseman.

The second half of the year should see earnings growth in the double digits and improved results across all the company's divisions, the company said.