UPDATE 1-Life Technologies shares fall on EU sales concern

* Q2 EPS, excluding items, $0.91/shr, vs. $0.87 forecast

* Rev of $903.7 mln in line with Wall Street expectations

* European sales trend shakes investors

* Expects full-year non-GAAP EPS of $3.35-$3.50

* Shares close down 6.2 percent (Adds analyst's comment, sales details)

By Ransdell Pierson

NEW YORK, July 29 (Reuters) - Life Technologies Corp (LIFE.O) reported better than expected quarterly earnings, bolstered by strong demand in Asia for its tools and equipment used in biological research, but company shares fell more than 6 percent on concern sales may be softening in Europe.

The company on Thursday said its second-quarter earnings almost tripled to $111 million, or 58 cents per share. That compared with $39 million, or 22 cents per share, in the year-earlier period, when the company incurred large acquisition-related expenses.

Excluding special items, the company earned 91 cents per share. Analysts on average expected 87 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Global company revenue rose 8.5 percent to $903.7 million, in line with Wall Street expectations of $903.4 million.

But Credit Agricole Securities analyst Paul Knight said investors grew concerned when company officials in a conference call pointed to signs that sales growth could stall during the second half of the year in Europe.

"That heightened risk in Europe sent the stock down," Knight said.

Life Technologies, which announced a share repurchase program for up to $350 million, slightly adjusted its full-year 2010 profit forecast to between $3.35 and $3.50 per share, excluding items. It had previously forecast $3.30 to $3.50.

The Carlsbad, California-based company reaffirmed it expects its 2010 organic revenue to increase in the mid- to high-single digit range.

Knight, who has a "buy" rating on Life Technologies, said he remains optimistic about its fundamentals. Its revenue grew by 7 percent in both 2008 and 2009, despite the recession, he said. The analyst predicted sales growth will be in the 7 to 8 percent range in 2011 as the U.S. National Institutes of Health and customers around the globe remain highly engaged in biological research.

"It's a global opportunity," he said of the company, whose shares are now down 8.2 percent from where they were this time last year.

Although European growth is a concern, as it has been with large U.S. drugmakers during the second quarter, Knight said Life Technologies' sales in Asia during the second quarter jumped 19 percent.

Life Technologies shares closed down 6.15 percent, or $2.78, to end the day's trade at $42.50 on the Nasdaq. (Reporting by Ransdell Pierson, editing by Leslie Gevirtz)