Noven shrs fall after Q4 results delayed on accounting issues

March 13 (Reuters) - Shares of Noven Pharmaceuticals Inc (NOVN.O) lost as much as a quarter of its market value on Thursday, a day after the drugmaker delayed its fourth-quarter and full-year results due to an accounting issue related to revenue recognition.

The company said it would file with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission to extend the due date for filing its annual results to April 1.

The issue, which was raised by the U.S. regulators, is related to Noven's accounting policy of deferring revenue recognition of upfront milestone payments and recognizing them as revenue over the estimated life of its licensed products.

The SEC had asked Noven to clarify its basis for deferring the recognition of such payments, including the milestones that Noven received from Shire Plc (SHP.L) in connection with the license of its Daytrana product.

Daytrana, a skin patch for treatment of attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, was licensed to Shire from Noven.

The issue was first raised by the SEC last December and is currently under consideration and analysis.

Assuming that there is no required change to its current accounting policy, Noven estimates net income of $1.0 million, or 4 cents a share, on revenue of $23.2 million, for the fourth quarter.

The results would include a $3.3 million charge related to employee separation arrangements, the company said.

Analysts were expecting a profit of 14 cents a share, before special items, on revenue of $26.9 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

Shares of the company fell $2.69 to $9.09 in early morning trade, making them the top percentage loser on Nasdaq. It touched a 52-week low of $8.75 earlier in the session. (Reporting by Esha Dey in Bangalore; Editing by Amitha Rajan)