Aug 7 (Reuters) - Shoe company Deckers Outdoor Corp posted a better-than-expected second-quarter profit, boosted by strong demand for its UGG brand, and raised its full-year 2008 outlook.

www.Deckers.com

Net loss, however, was $3.8 million, or 29 cents a share, compared with a profit of $2.3 million, or 17 cents a share, a year earlier.

Excluding items, the company earned 39 cents a share.

Net sales rose 73 percent to $91.1 million.

Analysts on average expected the company to earn 24 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $78.6 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

UGG brand sales increased about 131 percent to $60.6 million.

For 2008, Deckers said it expects earnings per share to rise about 34 percent, excluding items, and revenue to increase about 43 percent over 2007.

It had earlier forecast earnings per share to rise about 27 percent and revenue to increase about 31 percent.

Shares of the company, which sells products under UGG, Teva, Simple and TSUBO brands, closed at $115.16 Thursday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Dhanya Skariachan in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva)