Immunodiagnostic sells haematology unit for 4.2 mln euros

Jan 2 (Reuters) - Immunodiagnostic Systems Holdings Plc (IDH.L) said on Friday it had sold its loss-making haematology business unit to Escalon Medical Corp (ESMC.O), a Nasdaq-listed healthcare company, for 4.2 million euros. The producer of diagnostic testing kits said its Biocode Hycel unit would get payment from Escalon over a period of 48 months from Dec. 31, the date of completion of the deal.

Immunodiagnostic Systems said this sale would lead to higher profits and allow it to focus on producing manual immunoassay and launch a new automated analyser.

The assets of its haematology business were valued at about 2.6 million euros as of Nov. 30, which was also included in the sale, the company said in a statement.

For the year ending March 31, 2009, the haematology business was expected to post a pretax loss of 247,000 euros on sales of 4.17 million euros.

It said the funds received would be used to reduce its net debt and improve working capital.

Shares of the company were indicated higher 2.6 percent at 140 pence at 0746 GMT. (Reporting by Srikanth Srinivasa in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)