(Reuters) -British luxury brand Burberry reported a smaller than expected 4% drop in quarterly comparable store sales on Friday, helped by stronger festive demand in the United States.

Analysts had expected a 12% decline in comparable sales for the company's third quarter to end-December.

Burberry said it was now more likely that it would avoid a full-year operating loss. It reported an adjusted operating loss of 41 million pounds ($51 million) in the first half.

Third-quarter sales in the Americas rose 4%, and Burberry said New York in particular performed well. Asia Pacific continued to lag, with sales down 9% and mainland China down 7%.

($1 = 0.8074 pounds)