UPDATE 1-MDA profit drops as restructuring costs bite

TORONTO, Feb 26 (Reuters) - Real estate data and space technology company MacDonald, Dettwiler and Associates (MDA.TO) posted a drop in quarterly earnings on Thursday as revenue fell and restructuring charges bit.

MDA said it earned C$8.75 million ($7 million), or 22 Canadian cents a share, in the three months ended Dec. 31. That was down from a profit of C$30.3 million, or 70 Canadian cents a share, in the same period a year earlier.

Revenue dropped to C$278.3 million from C$294.1 million a year earlier, the company said.

Excluding restructuring costs, stock compensation and fair-value adjustments on equity forward contracts and interest rate swaps, earnings were 52 Canadian cents a share, down from 72 Canadian cents a year earlier.

In 2008, MDA's planned $1.33 billion sale of its space robotics and satellite technology business to U.S. rocket-maker Alliant Techsystems Inc (ATK.N) was blocked by the Canadian government.

The government halted the deal in part because it feared it might lose control over top-secret satellite images. It was the first time Ottawa had prevented the sale of a domestic company to a foreign buyer.

MDA shares fell 5 Canadian cents to close at C$20.40 on the Toronto Stock Exchange on Thursday. The company released its results after the market close.

($1=$1.25 Canadian) (Reporting by Wojtek Dabrowski; editing by Peter Galloway)