May 21 (Reuters) - Apparel and footwear retailer Buckle Inc (BKE.N) posted higher-than-expected first-quarter results as its trendy product offerings remained popular with customers despite a slowdown in mall traffic.

Summer swimwear at Buckle Inc

Kearney, Nebraska-based Buckle, which sells third-party brands like Guess, Silver Jeans, Hurley and Fossil, reported a net income of $26.9 million, or 58 cents a share, up from $18.7 million, or 40 cents a share, a year earlier.

For the quarter ended May 2, net sales at the mall-based specialty retailer rose about 25 percent to $199.7 million.

Analysts, on average, had expected earnings of 50 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $187.4 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Buckle, whose rivals include Gap Inc (GPS.N), Bon-Ton Stores Inc (BONT.O) and Abercrombie & Fitch Co (ANF.N), said comparable store net sales rose 17.7 percent in the quarter.

Buckle's shares closed at $32.83 Wednesday 20 May on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Mihir Dalal in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)