NEW YORK (Reuters) - Hair salon operator Regis Corp (RGS.N: Quote, Profile, Research) posted a sharply higher quarterly profit on Wednesday due to a price increase and the earliest Easter since 1913.

The operator of the Vidal Sassoon and Supercuts chains said net profit for the third quarter ended March 31 climbed to $19 million or 44 cents a share from $5.3 million, or 12 cents a share a year earlier.

Without a one-time income tax charge, Regis said it would have earned 51 cents a share for the quarter.

On that basis, analysts on average were expecting the company to earn 49 cents a share for the quarter, according to Reuters Estimates.

Same-store service sales climbed 3.3 percent during the period, the highest quarterly increase in eight years, Chief Executive Paul Finkelstein said.

Easter fell on March 23 this year. Last year the holiday came on April 8.

Regis said it raised prices in more than 5,600 salons during the quarter.

Earlier this month, the company said quarterly revenue rose 4 percent to $680 million from $655 million a year ago.

"Regis' key business is stabilizing. People still need to get their hair cut," Bear Stearns analyst Justin Hott wrote in a research note.