* Straumann 2014 net profit 157.8 mln Sfr
* Reuters poll had forecast net profit of 133 mln Sfr
* Shares rise 10.2 pct at 1151 GMT
ZURICH, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Shares in Swiss dental implant maker Straumann Holding rose more than 10 percent on Friday after reporting earnings that exceeded expectations, but they remain below their price before a shock policy move by the Swiss central bank last month.
A rebound in Straumann's biggest market Europe, led by double-digit revenue increases in Britain, Spain, Austria and the Nordic countries, helped the Basel-based firm post full-year net profit of 157.8 million Swiss francs ($166.32 million).
This was almost 20 percent ahead of analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll.
"Europe has been a little bit our problem region in the past and in the fourth quarter we actually grew by more than 5 percent in Europe," Chief Executive Marco Gadola said in an interview.
For the whole of 2014 European sales, which have been hit by the region's economic downturn, saw organic growth - which excludes currency fluctuations among other items - of 3.2 percent compared with a 3.2 percent contraction in 2013.
Straumann shares rose 10.2 percent by 1151 GMT, their biggest daily rise since November 2008. However, they are still more than 6 percent below their closing price on Jan. 14, the day before the Swiss National Bank (SNB) unexpectedly ended a three-year-old cap on the franc's value against the euro.
The value of Switzerland's currency rocketed after the move and, with more than half of its sales in Europe, Basel-based Straumann is at risk of seeing this eat away at profits.
By Jan. 16, shares in Straumann had fallen by as much as 27.8 percent.
Gadola said an initial proposal earlier this month for pay cuts in response to the franc's rise was "not received extremely positively" by staff, but that employees had now backed revised measures.
Through this, along with renegotiations of supplier contracts, tighter cost controls and a stricter hiring policy, Straumann hopes to save more than 20 million francs.
Analysts have welcomed efforts to cut costs but said the turnaround could be slow.
"That takes time to fix," Sanford Bernstein analyst Lisa Bedell Clive said. "I think they will fix it, they're trying to do the right things but that will take time."
For 2015, Straumann is currently targeting mid-single digit organic revenue growth and an operating profit margin of at least 20 percent.
Gadola said the start of the year had been a "mixed bag" for Straumann as weaker currencies in markets like Russia has led the company to provide some discounts in its distributor business.
"The rest of the business is actually performing up to expectations in local currencies," Gadola said.
($1 = 0.9488 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Joshua Franklin; editing by Susan Thomas)
* Reuters poll had forecast net profit of 133 mln Sfr
* Shares rise 10.2 pct at 1151 GMT
ZURICH, Feb 27 (Reuters) - Shares in Swiss dental implant maker Straumann Holding rose more than 10 percent on Friday after reporting earnings that exceeded expectations, but they remain below their price before a shock policy move by the Swiss central bank last month.
A rebound in Straumann's biggest market Europe, led by double-digit revenue increases in Britain, Spain, Austria and the Nordic countries, helped the Basel-based firm post full-year net profit of 157.8 million Swiss francs ($166.32 million).
This was almost 20 percent ahead of analysts' expectations in a Reuters poll.
"Europe has been a little bit our problem region in the past and in the fourth quarter we actually grew by more than 5 percent in Europe," Chief Executive Marco Gadola said in an interview.
For the whole of 2014 European sales, which have been hit by the region's economic downturn, saw organic growth - which excludes currency fluctuations among other items - of 3.2 percent compared with a 3.2 percent contraction in 2013.
Straumann shares rose 10.2 percent by 1151 GMT, their biggest daily rise since November 2008. However, they are still more than 6 percent below their closing price on Jan. 14, the day before the Swiss National Bank (SNB) unexpectedly ended a three-year-old cap on the franc's value against the euro.
The value of Switzerland's currency rocketed after the move and, with more than half of its sales in Europe, Basel-based Straumann is at risk of seeing this eat away at profits.
By Jan. 16, shares in Straumann had fallen by as much as 27.8 percent.
Gadola said an initial proposal earlier this month for pay cuts in response to the franc's rise was "not received extremely positively" by staff, but that employees had now backed revised measures.
Through this, along with renegotiations of supplier contracts, tighter cost controls and a stricter hiring policy, Straumann hopes to save more than 20 million francs.
Analysts have welcomed efforts to cut costs but said the turnaround could be slow.
"That takes time to fix," Sanford Bernstein analyst Lisa Bedell Clive said. "I think they will fix it, they're trying to do the right things but that will take time."
For 2015, Straumann is currently targeting mid-single digit organic revenue growth and an operating profit margin of at least 20 percent.
Gadola said the start of the year had been a "mixed bag" for Straumann as weaker currencies in markets like Russia has led the company to provide some discounts in its distributor business.
"The rest of the business is actually performing up to expectations in local currencies," Gadola said.
($1 = 0.9488 Swiss francs) (Reporting by Joshua Franklin; editing by Susan Thomas)
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