** Stock in SMCP SMCP.PA surges around 7%, paring gains after rising as much as 11.3%, as the French fashion company published results above analyst expecations
** Q1 sales came in at 297 million euros ($338 million), an organic increase of 2.6%, versus the 289 million euros that Midcap Partners had expected
** The broker calls the results encouraging, particularly as SMCP's "belle performance" did not come at the expense of its margins
($1 = 0.8777 euros)
(Reporting by Jakob Van Calster)
((Jakob.vancalster@thomsonreuters.com))