UPDATE 1-Zentiva sees lower than expected H1 results

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PRAGUE, July 27 (Reuters) - Czech drugmaker Zentiva expects to report lower than expected first-half results due to price erosion at home, investments in sales and one-off costs in Romania, the company said on Friday.

Zentiva, one of the largest generic drug producers in central Europe, said it expected net income of about 0.8 billion crowns ($39.06 million), operating profit of around 1.1 billion crowns, and net sales of around 6.8 billion crowns.

Zentiva, whose largest shareholder is France's Sanofi-Aventis with a 24.9 percent stake, will release first-half results on Aug. 6, when it also plans to give an update on the outlook for full 2007.

"The lower than anticipated operating performance is due to the higher than expected price erosion in Zentiva's home market, continued investment in its sales and marketing organisation ... and one-off costs in Romania," Zentiva said in a statement.

It said the one-off costs stemmed from a provision against receivables and an inventory write-off and amounted to some 200 million crowns in the first half.

Shares in Zentiva closed at 1,419 crowns on Thursday.