Drugmaker Galen beat forecasts with its third-quarter earnings and said it was confident of a strong full-year performance.
The women's healthcare specialist, which said in July that talks over a possible bid for the firm had fallen through, said earnings per share before goodwill and exceptional items more than doubled to 26.8 cents in the three months to June 30th.
Analysts' forecasts had ranged from 21.5 to 25.7 cents.
Sales jumped 73 per cent to $135.7 million, also beating forecasts of $118 million to $127.5 million, driven by recently acquired medicines such as Sarafem for pre-menstrual syndrome as well as older products such as Ovcon contraceptive pills.
Galen shares were up 2.3 per cent at 622-1/2 pence this morning.
Galen also said it was confident of meeting market expectations for fiscal 2004, despite the possibility of cheap, copycat competition to Ovcon contraceptive pills.
US generic drugmaker Barr Laboratories abandoned bid talks with Galen in July after news of the discussions hit its shares, according to industry sources.