NEW YORK (Reuters) - Covidien Ltd <COV.N> said on Thursday its fiscal first-quarter earnings rose, spurred by strong sales from its imaging solutions and medical devices business.

Net income in the quarter ended Dec 28, 2007 was $420 million, or 84 cents a share, compared with a year-ago profit of $338 million, or 68 cents a share.

Excluding items, income from continuing operations was 59 cents a share, down from 69 cents a share, a year earlier.

(Reporting by Euan Rocha and Debra Sherman; Editing by Derek Caney)

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