Feb 11 (Reuters) - Kenneth Cole Productions Inc's (KCP.N) earnings forecast for the fourth-quarter blew past estimates as the clothing and shoe maker said on Thursday 11 February it saw a strong holiday season.

Kenneth Cole boutique on Sloane Street, London - Photo: PixelFormula

Shares of the company were up 7 percent to $11.20 in after-market trade. They closed at $10.48 Thursday 11 February on the New York Stock Exchange.

"Our gross margins continue to rise and expenses continue to go down. We remain confident that we will see incremental improvement in fiscal 2010," Chief Executive Officer Jill Granoff said in a statement.

For the fourth quarter, the New York City-based company expects to report adjusted earnings of about 21 cents per share, versus its prior view of 4 cents a share to 8 cents a share.

Revenue is expected to be about $110 million.

Analysts, on average, were expecting the company to earn 9 cents a share, on revenue of $110.92 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Kenneth Cole also said it expects to report a significant year-over-year improvement in the first quarter of 2010, with operating profitability near breakeven versus an adjusted loss of 41 cents in the year-ago quarter. (Reporting by Nivedita Bhattacharjee in Bangalore; Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair)