Actelion raised its earnings outlook for 2012 on Thursday as cost cuts helped Europe's biggest biotech company to post a first-half profit despite its most important drug facing tough competition in the United States.

Actelion said it now expects core earnings to grow in a mid single-digit percentage range for 2012, compared with previous guidance for no core earnings growth. That rosier view is the second upward revision to its outlook this year.

"Actelion continues to expect product sales to decrease in the low single-digit range for the full year 2012," Chief Financial Officer Andrew Oakley said in a statement.

"However, based on an accelerated impact from the cost saving initiative, Actelion has increased its full year earnings outlook for 2012, thereby creating a higher base from which to drive future profitability."

Actelion said cost cuts it launched in recent months were already helping profitability with net income for the first half of 174 million Swiss francs ($177 million), compared with a net loss of 262 million in the year-ago period.

"A strong half year result for the pharmaceutical company, which initially seems to have passed its health check," analysts at Swiss private bank Notenstein said.

The company has been forced to slash costs as pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) drug Tracleer, which accounts for 87% of the company's sales, loses exclusivity in 2015.

Drug dependence

Actelion announced up to 135 job cuts and other savings measures last week. It said on Thursday that would result in a restructuring charge for the full year, but it has yet to determine the exact amount.

The firm is also battling pressure on margins due to a strong Swiss franc, a weak European economy that has hit healthcare spending, and increasing competition from U.S. company Gilead's rival drug Letairis.

Sales of Tracleer fell 4% in the first half in local currencies to 752 million francs, due to tough competition in the United States and price cuts in other regions.

The firm's dependence on Tracleer has been a major concern for shareholders, including Elliott Advisors, the New York hedge fund that built up a chunky stake in Actelion last year and tried - but failed - to get the group to put itself up for sale.

Actelion's big new hope is PAH treatment macitentan, which received a boost as a viable top seller earlier this year after it beat expectations in a key clinical trial.

It confirmed on Thursday it would submit regulatory filings for macitentan globally by the end of this year.

PAH is a disease of the arteries connecting the lungs and the heart. As blood flow is restricted, the right side of the heart is put under rising strain to pump blood, resulting in symptoms of breathlessness and fatigue.

The company, founded in 1997 by former Roche veteran Jean-Paul Clozel, said it had collected more than 100 million francs in due payments from southern European countries, where the debt crisis has hurt hospitals' ability to settle bills. It said its more upbeat profit view for the year was contingent on no further unpaid bills in the region.