* Net loss 329 mln zlotys vs 374 mln loss expected by analysts * Zloty down a fifth in the quarter (Adds details of results) WARSAW Nov 3 (Reuters) - Poland's refiner Lotos swung to a loss of 329 million zlotys ($103.9 million) in the third quarter as the weak Polish currency pumped up the group's costs and dollar-denominated debt, but the figure was better than expected by analysts. Banks and brokerages polled by Reuters expected the loss to reach 374 million zlotys. Lotos' bottom line was at least partially rescued by its nascent extraction arm, which saw sales more than double from a year ago. The company had already warned that the rapidly weakening Polish currency, which shed nearly a fifth of its value in the quarter, would chop some 644 million zlotys from its results. Lotos completed its ambitious capacity upgrade programme earlier this year, which significantly increased its debt load to some 6.6 billion zlotys and raised the impact of financial costs on the company's results. The upgrade helped boost its refining volume by more than a tenth, but its refining margins fell by 29 percent in the July-September period. Lotos shares have shed 23 percent of their value this year, underperforming a 14 percent drop of Warsaw's main index. ($1 = 3.166 Polish Zlotys) (Reporting by Chris Borowski; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman)

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