June 12 (Reuters) - Italian clothing retailer OVS on Wednesday reported single-digit growth in first-quarter adjusted net sales, mainly thanks to strong results from directly operated stores.

OVS's first-quarter adjusted net sales increased 5% year-on-year to 352.2 million euros ($381.96 million), while adjusted core profit rose 8% over the same period, totalling 29.7 million euros.

OVS said its profit before tax rose in the first quarter to 10.1 million euros, up from 7.7 million a year ago.

($1 = 0.9221 euros) (Reporting by Alberto Chiumento. Editing by Jane Merriman)