May 11 (Reuters) - Fragrance maker Inter Parfums Inc (IPAR.O) posted first-quarter profit that missed analysts' estimates, as a strong U.S. dollar took a big bite out of its sales amid a challenging retail environment, but it backed its 2009 outlook.

Lanvin l'Homme Sport - New fragrance from Lanvin of the Inter Parfums group

"The strength of the U.S. dollar relative to the euro had the net effect of depressing first-quarter sales by about 6 percent as compared to last year," Chief Executive Jean Madar said in a statement.

Inter Parfums, whose brands include Burberry, Van Cleef & Arpels, Paul Smith, S.T. Dupont and Christian Lacroix, maintained its 2009 profit forecast of about $21.0 million, or 70 cents a share, on net sales of $390 million.

Analysts were looking at 69 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $383.2 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

For the latest first quarter, Inter Parfums earned $5.4 million, or 18 cents a share, compared with $8.7 million, or 28 cents a share, a year ago.

Net sales fell 27 percent to $90.4 million; and at comparable foreign currency exchange rates, net sales were down 21 percent.

Shares of the New York-based company closed at $8.42 Monday on Nasdaq.

For related alerts, double click (Reporting by Renju Jose in Bangalore; Editing by Anil D'Silva)