www.AshworthCorporate.com

Sept 9 (Reuters) - Ashworth Inc , a maker of golf-inspired sportswear, said it was exploring strategic alternatives, including a possible sale of the company, and posted a wider quarterly loss hurt by a fall in gross margin.

The company said it retained Kurt Salmon Associates Capital Advisors as its financial adviser.

For the third quarter, Ashworth reported a net loss of $9.6 million, or 65 cents a share, compared with a loss of $5.6 million, or 39 cents a share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell 9 percent to $45.2 million.

Ashworth said the results included a non-cash tax charge of $1.3 million, or 9 cents a share. It also reflects an increase in inventory write-down of $0.6 million taken in the UK, the company said.

One analyst expected a loss of 14 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $48.6 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Consolidated gross margin decreased to 34.9 percent from 38.2 percent.

Shares of the company closed up 6.4 percent at $3.99 Tuesday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Anand Basu in Bangalore; Editing by Vinu Pilakkott)