UPDATE 1-Bang & Olufsen keeps year outlook after Q3 disappoints

* Q3 pretax profit 18.8 mln DKK vs 55.4 mln forecast

* Says Q3 was difficult

* Says three new products will help drive Q4 sales

* Shares fall 6.7 pct

COPENHAGEN, April 18 (Reuters) - Danish luxury electronics maker Bang & Olufsen said it stood by its full-year guidance after missing forecasts with a 38 percent fall in third-quarter profit, hurt by weaker sales in a difficult market.

The result from the maker of upmarket televisions and sound systems was below the company's own expectations, missed forecasts in a Reuters poll and mirrored other luxury goods makers' slowdown in quarterly sales as the crisis bites.

Shares in the company fell sharply in early trading and were down 6.7 percent to 70.0 Danish crowns per share at 0700 GMT, against a 0.3 percent rise in the Copenhagen stock exchange's benchmark index .OMXC20.

"Bang & Olufsen delivered a weaker result than expected in a continuing difficult market," chief executive Tue Mantoni said on Wednesday.

Third-quarter pretax profit fell to 18.8 million Danish crowns ($3.3 million), compared with a forecast for 55.4 million.

Third-quarter sales fell to 766 million crowns from 820 million a year earlier, below a 861 million average forecast by analysts.

"It is a very disappointing topline that they are delivering this quarter," Alm. Brand analyst Michael Friis Jorgensen said. "They keep their guidance, but that looks very difficult now."

Band & Olufsen, which supplies sound systems for luxury cars including Aston Martin, Audi and Mercedes said it still expected pretax profits for the 2011/12 financial year of around 100 million Danish crowns ($17.56 million) based on a revenues exceeding 3 billion crowns.

That would be a rise from its full-year 2010/11 pretax profit of 40.1 million crowns and revenue of 2.87 billion.

The company said three new products, BeoVision 12, a television, Beolit 12 a transportable sound system, and BeoLab 12, a sound system, would help drive results in the fourth quarter.

B&O's results followed British luxury brand Burberry's report of a slowdown in quarterly sales growth on Tuesday. ($1 = 5.6611 Danish crowns) (Reporting by Mette Fraende; Editing by Hans-Juergen Peters)