TORONTO, Dec 10 (Reuters) - T-shirt maker Gildan Activewear Inc (GIL.TO) said on Thursday 10 December its fourth-quarter profit nearly doubled, helped mostly by lower manufacturing costs.

Gildan Activewear

The Montreal-based company, which manufactures T-shirts, socks and underwear, also said it expects its 2010 sales to rise about 17 percent to more than $1.2 billion as it boosts its market share with a number of new customers.

Gildan said it earned $42.4 million, or 35 cents a share during the quarter, up from $21.8 million, or 19 cents a share for the same time a year earlier.

The 2009 results included a 7 cent-per-share charge for a special distributor inventory devaluation discount.

Revenue during the quarter fell 7.1 percent to $301.7 million.

Analysts were expecting an average of 35 cents a share and revenue of $309.4 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S/. ($1=$1.05 Canadian) (Reporting by Scott Anderson, editing by Maureen Bavdek)