ELI LILLY <LLY> TO SELL ELIZABETH ARDEN UNIT Eli Lilly and Co said its board decided to sell Elizabeth Arden Inc, a wholly owned subsidiary that manufactures and markets cosmetics and fine fragrance products. It said the business, which had sales of 67 mln dlrs when it was acquired in 1971, had sales last year of 398 mln dlrs, up 12 pct from 1985. It had operating profits of about 33 mln dlrs in 1986. Lilly said it retained Morgan Stanley and Co to help evaluate offers. Lilly said it expects to use the after-tax proceeds from the sale of its cosmetics business for general corporate purposes, including the repurchase from time to time of its common stock or warrants on the open market. In a statement, Lilly Chairman Richard Wood said "This strategic decision was reached on the basis of our belief that in the future the corporation's resources, including its research activities, should be focused on its other business which have a high technology, life sciences orientation."