Pharmaceutical firm Elan has moved to reassure its shareholders, predicting a positive outlook for the group for the rest of 1999 and 2000.

Shares in the company, based in Athlone, Co Westmeath, have dropped significantly recently but Elan insists it knows no reason for the decline and that its prospects are good in the short term.

"We remain comfortable with the high end of consensus estimates for the fourth quarter of 1999 and 2000," it asserts.