RPT-UPDATE 3-Teva Q2 profit slips, sees greater Barr synergies

(Repeats to additional subscribers, no changes to text)

* Net income down to $521 mln from $533 mln

* Profit ex-items up 25 pct to $742 mln

* Sales up 20 pct at $3.4 bln

* Shares up 3.3 percent

(Updates with outlook, analyst comments, Nasdaq shares)

By Steven Scheer

TEL AVIV, July 28 (Reuters) - Teva Pharmaceutical Industries (TEVA.O), the world's largest generic drugmaker, reported a slight decline in second quarter profit and predicted its Barr Pharmaceuticals acquisition would yield better-than-expected results.

Completed in late 2008, the acquisition of rival Barr was a key growth driver for Israel-based Teva and company officials said Barr added to earnings during the second quarter, earlier than the company's forecast of contributing only in the fourth quarter of 2009.

"The integration of Barr continues to run ahead of schedule," Teva Chief Executive Shlomo Yanai told a news conference. "We are realising more synergies than initially forecast. And we are realising them more quickly than expected."

Initially, Teva had estimated cost savings from the Barr acquisition at $300 million after three years. In March, it raised it to $400 million and on Tuesday, Yanai increased the estimate to $500 million during a conference call with analysts.

Teva's Nasdaq-listed shares were 3.7 percent higher at $52.99 in morning trading.

"Teva continues to benefit from the integration of Barr by experiencing greater than expected synergies," said Jeffries & Co analyst David Windley.

Yanai said Teva -- Israel's largest company and Nasdaq's ninth largest by market value -- had a number of generic drugs planned for the second half of the year that will boost the company well into 2010.

As a result, Yanai predicted earnings growth of 35 percent in 2010 over 2009, up from a previous range of 30 to 35 percent.

Teva maintained expectations of earnings per share of $3.20 to $3.40 for all of 2009.

PROFIT

Teva posted second-quarter net income of $521 million, or 58 cents per diluted share, compared with $533 million, or 65 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding one-off items that related mainly to the Barr acquisition, net income rose to $742 million, a 25 percent increase from last year, while earnings per diluted share was 15 percent higher at 83 cents, beating the average forecast from analysts of 81 cents a share.

Sales totalled $3.4 billion, a 20 percent rise from the same period last year, below the average forecast of $3.5 billion from analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.

Sales were cut by 9 percent, or $256 million, due to an appreciation of the dollar.

Teva's branded drug Copaxone remained the number one multiple sclerosis therapy globally, with record sales of $682 million in the quarter, up 21 percent from a year ago.

The company said its global market share for Copaxone was 28 percent, ahead of Biogen's (BIIB.O) Avonex, which was 24 percent and 21 percent for Merck KGaA's (MRCG.DE) Rebif. It had a 38 percent market share in the United States.

Teva also said it benefited from sales of generic versions of Lotrel, Yasmin, Protonix and Imitrex.

"I believe that a quarter like this one -- when we had only one key launch, but still delivered the best numbers in our history -- provides a very clear demonstration of Teva's unique qualities and the strength of Teva's growth momentum," said Yanai.

Teva launched a generic version of Shire's (SHP.L) Adderall XR in the quarter. It said Teva and Barr had 198 products awaiting final U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval with annual branded sales of more than $110 billion.

Yanai indicated that Teva was interested in more acquisitions.

"Teva has a legacy of doing acquisitions," he told a news conference, noting that acquisitions have become a trend in the drugs sector.

He declined to say whether another deal was imminent.

Teva declared a dividend of 0.60 shekel (15.7 cents) a share to be paid on Aug. 20. ($1 = 3.78 shekels) (Additional reporting by Joseph Nasr; editing by Karen Foster)