IBA logs Q1 net loss on lack of equipment orders

BRUSSELS, May 8 (Reuters) - Belgian cancer diagnosis and therapy company Ion Beam Applications (IBA) (IBAB.BR: Quote, Profile, Research) reported on Friday a "slim" first-quarter net loss on a lack of equipment orders and costs from the purchase of French firm CISBIO.

The company said in a statement that sales for the three-month period had grown by 50 percent -- 3 percent internally and the rest from the CISBIO acquisition. It gave no monetary figures.

IBA, which said in March it expected revenue growth of 15-20 percent in 2009, said it had completed the sale of a proton therapy system in the Czech Republic earlier this month.

"While this order was logged later than expected, it shows that market interest in proton therapy remains strong and financeable," the statement said.

The company said its pharmaceuticals business, which posted sales growth of about 155 percent for the quarter, remained solid. (Reporting by Bate Felix, editing by Dale Hudson)