Shire nudges up revenue forecast after strong Q1

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LONDON, April 25 (Reuters) - Shire Plc (SHP.L), Britain's third-biggest drugmaker, posted a 40 percent rise in first-quarter underlying earnings on Wednesday, and nudged up its full-year revenue forecast, boosting its shares.

Shire said underlying earnings per American Depositary Share on a non-GAAP accounting basis rose to 74.7 U.S. cents in the first three months of the year.

Revenues rose a stronger-than-expected 29 percent to $528 million, helped by a 21 percent rise in sales of top-selling hyperactivity drug Adderall XR and a string of new drug launches.

Analysts had on average expected Adderall XR sales of $235 million within total revenues of $502 million, according to a Reuters poll of seven brokerages.

Shire said it expected 2007 revenues to grow in the low 20s percent, up from its previous guidance of about 20 percent.

At 1045 GMT its shares were up 5.1 percent at 1,160 pence, the second-biggest rise on the UK's benchmark FTSE-100 index .FTSE.

Shire is in the midst of a series of new drug launches including Daytrana, a skin patch treatment for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), and Elaprase for Hunter syndrome, a rare inherited disorder.

It is due to launch Vyvanse, its next-generation treatment for ADHD and its biggest new drug hope, in the coming weeks.

((Reporting by Mark Potter, editing by Mike Elliott/Greg Mahlich; Reuters Messaging: mark.potter.reuters.com@reuters.net; tel: +44 20 7542 7717; fax: +44 20 7542 9025)) Keywords: SHIRE RESULTS/

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