UPDATE 1-Covanta Q3 profit beats estimates

* Q3 EPS ex-items $0.28 vs est. of $0.24

* Q3 oper revenue dips 7 pct

* Sees FY EPS near mid-point of $0.65-$0.80

Oct 21 (Reuters) - Renewable energy company Covanta Holding Corp (CVA.N: 行情) posted better-than-expected quarterly results, helped by lower costs, and reaffirmed its full-year forecast.

The company now expects to post 2009 profit near the midpoint of its outlook range of 65 cents to 80 cents a share.

In the third quarter, net income attributable to the company was $40.9 million, or 26 cents a share, compared with $47.1 million, or 30 cents a share, a year ago.

Excluding expenses related to the acquisition of six of the seven Energy-from-Waste plants from Veolia Environnement SA (VIE.PA: 行情) in August, the company earned 28 cents a share.

Total operating revenue for the quarter dropped 7 percent to $408.7 million partly due to the impact of lower recycled metal, energy and waste prices.

Analysts, on average, were looking for earnings of 24 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $387.9 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Shares of the Fairfield, New Jersey-based company closed at $18.05 Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Antonita Madonna Devotta in Bangalore; Editing by Aradhana Aravindan)