UPDATE 2-Rona profit drops amid weak housing market

* EPS ex-items C$0.41; analyst forecast C$0.40

* Revenue falls 4.4 pct to C$1.32 billion

* Same-store sales down 5.3 pct

* Shares up 1.1 percent at C$15.96 (Adds analyst comments, share price)

TORONTO, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Rona Inc (RON.TO) reported a lower quarterly profit on Tuesday amid weak same-store sales and a sluggish home renovation market, and warned the soft housing sector will weigh on Canada's biggest home-improvement chain for some time.

The Montreal-based company with about 700 stores across the country, said earnings fell to C$49.1 million ($46.4 million), or 38 Canadian cents a share, from C$52.5 million, or 45 Canadian cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-time items, such as the cost of store closings, Rona earned C$53.3 million, or 41 Canadian cents a share, down from C$58.9 million, or 50 Canadian cents per share.

Revenue fell 4.4 percent to C$1.32 billion.

Analysts, on average, had expected earnings of 40 Canadian cents a share before one-time items, and revenue of C$1.35 billion, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.