UPDATE 3-King Pharma posts 4th-qtr loss after charge

* Q4 net loss of $548.5 million

* Ex-items, Q4 EPS of 24 cents vs 23-cent estimate

* King's shares rise 3.5 percent (Adds analyst comment, updates share price)

By Toni Clarke

BOSTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - King Pharmaceuticals Inc (KG.N) posted a fourth-quarter loss on Thursday as sales of its blood pressure drug fell and it took an acquisition-related charge.

The company reported a net loss of $548.5 million, or $2.25 per share, compared with net income of $42.8 million, or 18 cents per share, a year earlier.

Revenue fell to $348 million from $553 million.

Excluding a $590 million charge related to its acquisition in December of Alpharma Inc, and other one-time items, the company earned 24 cents per share.

Analysts on average expected earnings of 23 cents a share, according to Reuters Estimates. King's shares rose 3.5 percent in mid-afternoon trading.

With its acquisition of Alpharma, King gains the pain drug Kadian and pain patch Flector, in addition to Alpharma's experimental pain drug Embeda.

King is hoping to become a leader in the field of abuse-resistant pain drugs, which it hopes will offset declines in sales of its blood pressure drug Altace.

Sales of Altace in the fourth quarter fell to $14 million from $158 million a year earlier, as patients switched to generic alternatives.

Overall sales of King's branded pharmaceuticals fell to $277 million from $469 million a year ago.

As of Dec. 31, 2008, the company had roughly $940 million in cash and cash equivalents. This includes about $385 million which was used to redeem previously issued Alpharma convertible bonds during the first quarter of 2009.

King said it has made "significant advances" with respect to its Alpharma integration, and identified more cost-cutting opportunities than originally anticipated.

"We are very impressed that King has been able to so quickly and effectively wring such costs out of the business, especially given the uncertainties that lay ahead," said Corey Davis, an analyst at Natixis Bleichroeder.

King is awaiting approval for its experimental pain drugs Embeda and Remoxy and that timing remains in doubt.

However, Davis said, "when the fog eventually burns off, King's streamlining could be a boon to earnings."

The company said in 2009 it expects cost savings of about $60 million from the integration. The company said it expects an additional $90 million in cost savings from job cuts related to its muscle relaxant Skelaxin, which may lose market exclusivity due to a recent court decision.

King's shares rose 28 cents, or 3.5 percent, to $8.28 on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Toni Clarke and Lewis Krauskopf, editing by Dave Zimmerman)