Dentsply posts 4th-qtr profit as sales rise

NEW YORK, Feb 6 (Reuters) - Dentsply International (XRAY.O), a maker of prosthetics, ceramics, alloys and other products used in the dental market, on Tuesday posted a fourth-quarter profit, helped by rising sales.

Net income totaled $65 million, or 42 cents per share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $725,000, or nil per share. Net sales rose 5 percent to $471.3 million.

Excluding items, profit totaled $57.1 million, or 37 cents per share, Dentsply said. Analysts polled by Reuters Estimates on average forecast profit of 36 cents per share on revenue of $467.6 million.

Dentsply also projected 2007 profit of $1.56 to $1.61 per share, compared with the average analyst forecast of $1.59.

((Reporting by Jonathan Stempel, editing by Gary Hill, Reuters Messaging: jon.stempel.reuters.com@reuters.net, 646 223 6317)) Keywords: DENTSPLY RESULTS/

(C) Reuters 2007. All rights reserved. Republication or redistribution ofReuters content, including by caching, framing or similar means, is expresslyprohibited without the prior written consent of Reuters. Reuters and the Reuterssphere logo are registered trademarks and trademarks of the Reuters group ofcompanies around the world.nWEN3727