Belgium's UCB says 70 mln charge on U.S. exit

BRUSSELS Jan 29 (Reuters) - Belgian pharmaceutical group UCB (UCB.BR) said on Friday its 2009 net profit would be affected by restructuring charges of about 70 million euros ($98.28 million) from its exit from the U.S. primary care market in March.

The group said it was accelerating its U.S. transition to a purely speciality-focused biopharmaceutical company, which would impact net profit.

"These non-recurring charges are expected to reach approximately 70 million euros, lowering UCB's 2009 expected net profit as reported," the company said in a statement.

It said that recurring earnings before interests, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) would not be impacted.

The company is scheduled to report its 2009 results on March 3. ($1=.7122 Euro) (Reporting by Bate Felix; editing by Karen Foster)