CORRECTED - CORRECTED-UPDATE 1-Pep Boys posts Q1 profit, beats Street view

(Corrects paragraph 7 to show that $3.7 million gain and $3.9 million charge were for the year-ago quarter, not latest quarter) (Recasts, adds details)

June 10 (Reuters) - Automotive parts and service chain Pep Boys - Manny, Moe & Jack (PBY.N) posted a first-quarter profit, beating analysts' expectations of a loss, helped by increase in service center business revenue and profitability.

The company posted a first-quarter net profit of $4.7 million, or 9 cents a share, compared with a net income of $3.2 million, or 6 cents a share, a year ago.

The company earned 10 cents a share from continuing operations.

Total revenue fell about 8 percent to $498 million. Analysts on average expected a loss of 3 cents a share, excluding exceptional items, on revenue of $497.3 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Sales for stores operational a year ago fell by 5.6 percent.

Latest quarter earnings from continuing operations include, on a pre-tax basis, a $5.5 million net gain from dispositions of assets. First-quarter 2007 earnings from continuing operations included a $3.7 million gain from an insurance claim for stores impaired by Hurricane Katrina in 2005 and a $3.9 million charge to costs for CEO transition costs.

Pep Boys operates in the automotive aftermarket segment, selling car parts through its retail and service chains, and provides maintenance through its service bays.

The stock closed at $8.73 Monday on the New York Stock Exchange, 5.8 percent above its year low of $8.25. (Reporting by Eric Yep in Bangalore; Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy)