May 28 (Reuters) - Clothing maker Perry Ellis International Inc (PERY.O) posted a quarterly profit that zoomed past analysts' estimates, as it benefitted from stringent cost-cutting measures.

Perry Ellis

Like most other apparel companies, Perry Ellis has been controlling expenses tightly to fight the retail downturn. It reduced operating expenses in the latest quarter by 12 percent to $58.0 million.

"Considering the overall weakness of the consumer environment, our diversification strategy has proven key to a solid first-quarter performance," Chief Operating Officer Oscar Feldenkreis said in a statement.

Perry Ellis, whose brands include Laundry by Shelli Segal, and Cubavera, apart from its namesake line, said it expanded its Hispanic lifestyle brands at department stores during the quarter.

Perry Ellis, which also sells accessories and golf-related products, reported net income attributed to the company of $5.8 million, or 46 cents a share, compared with $9.1 million, or 60 cents a share, a year earlier.

For the first quarter ended May 2, revenue fell 10 percent to $220.0 million.

Analysts on average were expecting earnings of 25 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $210.3 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Shares of the Miami-based company closed at $6.81 Wednesday 27 May on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)