(Adds gain from condom unit sale, EPS guidance, chairman comments)
Feb 12 (Reuters) - Australian rubber products maker Ansell Ltd said on Monday its underlying half-year profit rose six-fold, as it recognised gains from the divestment of its Sexual Wellness unit.
Proceeds from the sale of $359.9 million after tax, slightly lower than the previously expected $365 million, lifted net profit for the six months to Dec. 31 to $428.2 million from $69.8 million a year ago.
Ansell sold its condoms business for $600 million last May to China's Humanwell Healthcare Group Co Ltd and CITIC Capital China Partners, and had expected a $365 million after-tax gain year on the sale.
"The company is now focused on growing its core, market leading, industrial and healthcare businesses," Chairman Glenn Barnes said.
Earnings per share (EPS) for the half-year was 45.3 cents from continuing operations, up from 36.1 cents a year ago. The company raised full-year EPS guidance to $0.96-$1.06 from $0.91-$1.01.
Ansell declared an interim dividend of 20.50 cents per share, up from 20.25 cents a year ago. The company reports in U.S. dollars.
Ansell, which is now focused on making and wholesaling industrial and medical products from rubber gloves to diving suits, had been hurt by a spike in rubber prices a year ago, when benchmark rubber futures touched a five-year high.
It raised prices in response, negatively impacting its first-half margins, taking the pre-tax profit, excluding the sale, down 19 percent to $57.4 million.
Ansell booked a hit to the earnings before interest and tax line because of restructuring costs, adding that half-year revenues fell 1.2 percent to $766.4 million as it was without earnings from the flagship condoms division.
The company's shares were up 0.9 percent, compared to the benchmark equity index's fall of 0.4 percent.
(Reporting by Susan Mathew in Bengaluru; Editing by Tom Westbrook and Stephen Coates)