UPDATE 1-Hi-Tech Pharmacal posts better Q4 profit, shares jump

* Q4 EPS $0.45 vs $0.02

* Sales up 83 pct

* Generic sales rise 95 pct

* Shares up as much as 31 pct

July 14 (Reuters) - Hi-Tech Pharmacal Inc (HITK.O) posted higher quarterly profit, helped by generic sales that almost doubled, sending its shares up as much as 31 percent.

For the fourth quarter ended April 30, the company posted a net profit of $5.1 million, or 45 cents a share, compared with a net profit of $300,000, or 2 cents a share a year ago.

It posted sales of $38.3 million, up 83 percent from a year ago.

Sales of the company's generic products in the quarter rose 96 percent to $33.3 million, offsetting a 44 percent decline in the sales of its branded over-the-counter products.

Shares of the company touched a two-year high at $12.98 on Tuesday before shedding some of its gains to trade up 25 percent at $12.40 on Nasdaq. (Reporting by Vidya L Nathan in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)