UPDATE 1-Alpharma posts Q4 results above market estimates

(Recasts; adds details, share movement)

Feb 26 (Reuters) - Specialty pharmaceutical company Alpharma Inc ALO.N posted fourth-quarter results above market estimates driven by a 40 percent jump in revenue from its pain reliever Kadian.

For the quarter, the company posted a net loss of $53.6 million, or $1.24 a share, due to a $60 million upfront payment it made to Germany's IDEA AG, a privately held biopharmaceutical company, related to the licensing rights of a drug.

It had posted a net income of $15.8 million, or 30 cents a share, in the prior-year quarter.

Excluding the impact of the upfront payment, the company earned 13 cents a share, significantly above market expectations. It had earned 25 cents a share, before items, a year ago.

Total revenue rose 17 percent to $199.1 million. Revenue from Kadian was $48.2 million for the period.

Analysts were expecting the company to earn 3 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $186.4 million, according to Reuters Estimates. Earlier this month, Alpharma said it would sell its active pharmaceutical ingredients business to private equity firm 3i Group Plc (III.L) for $395 million in cash, a deal which is expected to close in the second quarter of 2008.

The company said it will provide an updated 2008 earnings outlook for the continuing operations at or about the time of the deal closing.

In December, it had forecast earnings of 30 cents to 50 cents a share on revenue growth of 13 percent to 15 percent in 2008.

Shares of the company were up 2 percent at $26.05 in morning trade on New York Stock Exchange. The stock has gained more than 48 percent since January when it had touched a 52-week low of $17.55. (Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Deepak Kannan)