* FTSEurofirst 300 up 0.3 percent
* Banks gain after Geithner comments
* Roche tumbles on key drug setback
By Sitaraman Shankar
LONDON, April 22 (Reuters) - European shares ticked higher early on Wednesday as banks gained ground, offsetting the impact of Roche <ROG.VX>, which tumbled after a cancer drug setback, while company results sent mixed signals.
At 0830 GMT, the FTSEurofirst 300 <
> index of top European shares was up 0.3 percent at 789.77 points.The index is up 7.6 percent this month and has risen 22 percent from a 12-year low hit in early March, driven largely by hopes that the banking sector, worst hit by a global credit crisis, was turning the corner.
Financials were broadly higher after U.S. Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner indicated most U.S. banks have sufficient reserves to protect against possible losses.
Barclays <BARC.L> jumped 7.7 percent, while ING <ING.AS>, Allianz <ALVG.DE>, BNP Paribas <BNPP.PA>, AXA <AXAF.PA>, Credit Suisse <CSGN.VX>, UniCredit <CRDI.MI> and Deutsche Bank <DBKGn.DE> posted gains of 2.1-4.8 percent.
There were continued signs of a recovery from some company results, but the overall picture was mixed.
Swedish home appliances maker Electrolux <ELUXb.ST> jumped 12 percent after it said good cash flow would help it ride out the economic slump, while Heineken <HEIN.AS> fell 6 percent after posting a drop in beer volumes.
"In the medium term we're trying to find a bottom -- that's the bottom line," said John Haynes, strategist at Rensburg Sheppard.
"The test is the earnings season, that stocks suffer bad news but react well to that. So far they're not passing that test but not failing it decisively either."
Across Europe, Britain's FTSE <
> was up 0.2 percent, Germany's DAX < > up 0.4 percent and France's CAC < > was up 0.4 percent.
ROCHE DEPRESSES DRUGMAKERS
Roche slid 10 percent after a late-stage trial of its key cancer drug Avastin showed that it did not prevent the recurrence of colon cancer in patients who have undergone surgery.
GlaxoSmithKline <GSK.L>, which reports results later in the session, fell 1.4 percent and Sanofi-Aventis <SASY.PA> lost 1.1 percent.
Glaxo is expected to report a strong rise in sales and profits in sterling terms but the picture could be a lot less healthy once the flattering effects of a weak British pound are stripped out, analysts said.
Among prominent losers was BHP Billiton <BLT.L>, which fell 3 percent after saying it expected output from the world's bigger copper mine to decline 30 percent this financial year.
Later in the session, investors will focus on the UK budget and results from Morgan Stanley <MS.N>.
Rensburg's Haynes said that investor appetite for risk was still limited.
"It's difficult to jump and down if one believes macroeconomic data is going to remain fragile," he said.
"But the view that we are within 10 to 15 percent of the lows is gaining currency."
(Reporting by Sitaraman Shankar; editing by John Stonestreet)