Pacsun Guys collection

*Q3 loss from cont ops vs profit in previous year

*Q3 Same-store sales fell 7 pct, sales fell 5 pct

*Sees loss in Q4 including items

*Shares down 5 pct after the bell

Nov 18 (Reuters) - Athletic-clothing retailer Pacific Sunwear of California Inc posted a quarterly loss from continuing operations hurt by a slowdown in consumer spending and forecast a fourth-quarter loss, sending its shares down 5 percent.

Retailers such as PacSun have struggled with customers spending less on non-essentials facing high gas and food costs, housing market meltdown, tighter lending conditions and the U.S. facing the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression.

Pacific Sunwear posted a third-quarter loss from continuing operations of $3.5 million, or 5 cents a share, including a 6 cent goodwill impairment charge, for the three months ended Nov. 1, compared with a net income from continuing operations of $17.1 million, or 25 cents per share, a year earlier.

Same-store sales, a key measure of retail health, fell 7 percent.

"To strengthen our financial position in this economic downturn, we are focused on reducing our inventory, capital expenditures, and other expenses," Chief Executive Sally Kasaks said in a statement.

The company sees a fourth-quarter loss of 3 cents to 8 cents a share, including a gain of 11 cents from the sale of its Anaheim distribution center.

The company, which recently rejected a sweetened buyout offer of $5 a share by smaller rival Adrenalina , had earlier expected fourth-quarter earnings of 34 cents to 39 cents a share, including a 23 cents a share gain from the sale of its distribution center.

PacSun competes with other teen apparel retailers, including American Eagle Outfitters , Children's Place , Aeropostale and Wet Seal .

Shares of Pacific Sunwear, which has struggled in recent years to recapture its former success with teens looking for surf-inspired looks, have fallen 91 percent this year and were trading at $1.33 in after market trade. (Reporting by Shivani Singh in Bangalore; Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy)