Feb 5 (Reuters) - IDEXX Laboratories on Monday forecast annual revenue slightly ahead of Wall Street estimates after reporting better-than-expected quarterly sales, benefiting from higher demand for its companion animal health diagnostic services.

IDEXX sees revenue for the full year to be between $3.93 billion and $4.04 billion, the midpoint of which is above analysts' estimates of $3.97 billion, according to LSEG data.

The company sees full-year 2024 profit to be between $10.84 per share and $11.33 per share. It reported a profit of $10.06 for the full year 2023.

Piper Sandler analyst David Westenberg viewed the forecast as positive but said patient visits haven't completely picked up.

Visits to veterinary clinics were disrupted due to pandemic-led lockdowns and staffing shortages in the past few years.

"We think IDEXX will continue to keep its dominant position in pet diagnostics, though we don't think end-market patient volume headwinds are over," Westenberg said. IDEXX said it benefited from high customer retention and strength in its veterinary software, services and diagnostic imaging systems, supported by a continued shift to cloud-based products.

Sales at its companion animal group unit, which offers diagnostics and IT services for pets to veterinary clinics, rose 10% to $821.27 million in the quarter.

The company posted fourth-quarter revenue of $902 million, beating analysts' average estimate of $891.25 million.

Its quarterly profit rose to $2.32 per share from $2.05 per share reported last year. (Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shweta Agarwal)