UPDATE 1-PPD Q4 profit edges past estimates

* Q4 adj EPS $0.24 vs. est $0.23

* Q4 revenue $357.4 mln vs. est $314.3 mln

* Shares down 2 pct in after-hours trade

Feb 8 (Reuters) - Clinical-research service provider Pharmaceutical Product Development Inc PPDI.O posted a quarterly profit that beat estimates but said cancellations and adjustments were higher than expected, sending its shares down 2 percent after-the-bell.

Fourth-quarter net income was $18.9 million, compared to $47.2 million, for the same period in 2008. Excluding items, the company earned 24 cents a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The latest fourth-quarter earnings included impairments of an intangible asset and equity investments of $10 million, related to its dermatology program within the compound partnering business and its investment portfolio.

Revenue for the quarter fell 1.5 percent to $357.4 million.

Analysts were expecting the company to earn 23 cents a share, excluding items on revenue of $314.3 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

The company said, contract cancellations and adjustments during the quarter were $284.9 million, including three large project cancellations that together represented about 4 percent of year-end backlog.

As of Dec. 31, 2009, the company's backlog was at $3.0 billion and new business authorizations for the fourth quarter totalled $465.6 million, the company said.

Shares of the company were down 2 percent to $21.65 in trading after the bell. They closed at $22.13 Monday on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Krishnakali Sengupta in Bangalore; Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy)