Daiichi Sankyo forecasts surprise sharp profit fall

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese drug maker Daiichi Sankyo Co Ltd (4568.T: Quote, Profile, Research) booked a 15 percent rise in annual operating profit on Tuesday but forecast a surprise sharp drop in earnings for the current year on higher R&D costs and expansion plans in the United States.

Its shares slid on the profit outlook and were down 6 percent at 2,985 yen in afternoon trade, compared with a 1.4 percent rise for the Nikkei benchmark average .N225.

The success of high blood pressure medicine Benicar and the possible approval of prasugrel, a closely watched blood thinner that it is developing with Eli Lilly (LLY.N: Quote, Profile, Research), has spurred the company to plan a major increase in its U.S. sales force.

But that and higher research and development costs for drug candidates such as DU-176b, a drug aimed to prevent strokes and blood clots, are expected to depress earnings.

Daiichi Sankyo forecast operating profit to slide 17 percent to 130 billion yen for the year that started April 1, which compares with a Reuters consensus estimate of 171 billion yen.

Its relatively rich pipeline has led many Japan-based analysts to take a favourable view of Daiichi Sankyo's medium-term growth prospects.

But there are still worries that prasugrel, which has shown superior efficacy but greater risk of bleeding than rival Plavix from Sanofi-Aventis SA (SASY.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) and Bristol-Myers Squibb Co (BMY.N: Quote, Profile, Research), may have its approval delayed or get only a limited label.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is expected to hand down a decision on prasugrel in late June.

For the year just ended, Daiichi Sankyo said operating income climbed to 156.83 billion yen ($1.51 billion), falling short of a Reuters consensus estimate of 168 billion yen from 14 analysts.

(Editing by Chris Gallagher)