Anite says third-quarter trading ahead of expectations

(Adds details, background, analyst comment, share movement)

Feb 10 (Reuters) - Anite Plc (LSE: AIE.L - news) , which tests handsets and telecom networks, said trading in the third quarter ended Jan. 31 was ahead of its expectations as positive trends from the first half continued.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in the company rose as much as 6.1 percent.

The company said trading in the traditionally "quiet quarter" was helped in part by the integration of Xceed, the U.S.-based wireless network data analytics software company it acquired in October last year.

The update indicates continuing healthy order intake momentum, with strong growth in Asia-Pacific, particularly China, Jefferies analysts said in a note.

"The company is progressively returning to consistent growth now that the disruption created by large-scale telecoms industry consolidation is out of the way," Jefferies analysts said and kept their "buy" rating on the stock.

"We have entered the seasonally important final trading quarter with a larger pipeline of sales opportunities than at the same time last year and improved confidence in the outlook for the year as a whole," Chief Executive Christopher Humphrey said in a statement.

Anite had said in July that it expected the financial year ending April 30 to be a recovery period, expecting profitability to rebound.

Jefferies analysts expect Anite's handset-testing unit to grow 8.6 percent in the current financial year, with a network testing organic growth forecast of 5.6 percent.

Analysts were expecting full-year pretax profit of 21.78 million pounds for the year, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine smart estimates.

Anite's shares were up 5.5 percent at 86 pence at 0828 GMT and were among the top gainers on the London Stock Exchange (Other OTC: LDNXF - news) on Tuesday. (Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain in Bengaluru; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)