UPDATE 1-Lonza H1 net beats forecast, sticks to targets

ZURICH, July 23 (Reuters) - By Andrew Thompson ZURICH, July 23 (Reuters) - Swiss drugs industry supplier Lonza reported a better-than-forecast 83 percent rise in first-half net profit on Wednesday, boosted by a one-off gain, and reiterated its long-term targets. Net profit rose to 267 million Swiss francs ($262.8 million), boosted by a 91 million book gain from the sale of its remaining stake in Polynt SpA. In a Reuters survey, four analysts had on average forecast net profit of 245 million. Its shares rose 2.96 percent to 156.50 francs by 0748 GMT. 'These are convincing figures through and through again,' analysts at Bank Wegelin said. 'The life-science strategy continues to pay off and the efficiency improvement programme also seems to work.' Lonza, which has moved away from specialty chemicals to refocus on high-margin... [read full story]