Gilead profit rises a higher-than-expected 21 percent

By Deena Beasley

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Gilead Sciences Inc (GILD.O) said on Tuesday first-quarter profit rose 21 percent, topping analysts' expectations, on increased sales of its drugs to treat the virus that causes AIDS.

Gilead repeated its forecast for 2009 product sales of $5.9 billion to $6 billion, but shares still rose nearly 4 percent after hours on relief that sales trajectories are on track.

The forecast does not include products from cardiovascular drug maker CV Therapeutics, which Gilead acquired last week.

"It's just very early in the year and we're very reluctant to (update the outlook) until we have a couple of quarters under our belt and really understand what's going on, especially with foreign currency fluctuations," Gilead President and Chief Operating Officer John Milligan said on a conference call.

The Foster City, California-based biotechnology company also said HIV drug Atripla, which combines Gilead's Truvada with Bristol-Myers Squibb Co's (BMY.N) Sustiva into a single pill, has been approved for reimbursement in France.

France, the largest market for HIV drugs outside of the United States, accounts for 28 percent of prescriptions in the five largest European markets.

Gilead posted a net profit of $589.1 million, or 63 cents per share, compared with a profit of $488.3 million, or 51 cents per share, a year ago.

The results came in ahead of the average analyst estimate of 59 cents a share, as compiled by Reuters Estimates.