* Expects full-year total revenue to rise 17 percent
* Sees full-year generics business revenue of $200 mln
* Shares up as much as 9 pct (Adds analysts' comments, details; updates share movement)
July 8 (Reuters) - Hikma Pharmaceuticals Plc raisedits full-year revenue forecast for the second time in as manymonths on strong sales of its generic antibiotic doxycycline,sending its shares up as much as 9 percent.
The drugmaker on Monday said it expected total revenue torise 17 percent in 2013, up from its previous forecast of 13percent.
Hikma said its generics business continued to benefit fromthe strong sales of doxycycline. It expected full-year revenueof about $200 million and operating margins of more than 30percent in the generics division.
"Demand remains strong and as visibility only runs 2-3months ahead, there is the potential for further upgrades laterin the year," Citigroup analyst Joanne Jerman wrote in a note.
Strong doxycycline sales had prompted Hikma to raise itsfull-year revenue growth forecast to 13 percent in May, up from10 percent. Hikma had said that it expected full-year revenue of$150 million with operating margin in the low teens in itsgeneric business.
Panmure Gordon analyst Savvas Neophytou said Hikma'scompetitors are having difficulty manufacturing doxycycline.
"Hikma has a lot of raw materials and has been able tosupply the market as much as it needs and that is why it ismaking a lot of profit out of it," he said.
Doxycycline is a type of antibiotic used to treat bacterialinfections in different parts of the body.
The company reported revenue of $1.11 billion in the yearended Dec. 31, 2012, with its generic business contributing$103.7 million.
The drugmaker said it continued the remediation process ofits plant in Eatontown, New Jersey, and was slowly reintroducingproducts to the market.
Hikma had reported a 33 percent drop in revenue in itsgenerics business in 2012, after it had stopped production atthe plant in November to ensure compliance with U.S. FDAguidelines.
Shares in the company were up 8.6 percent at 1080 pence at1024 GMT on Monday on the London Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Abhirup Roy in Bangalore; Editing by SupriyaKurane)
Hikma Pharmaceuticals (HIK)
