Uralkali says H1 profit up 89 pct, beats f'cast-UPDATE 1

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Saturday September 04, 2010 03:41:10 AM GMT

* H1 net profit 8.4 bln roubles vs 7.5 bln forecast

* Sales nearly double to 27.4 bln roubles vs 24.3 bln fcast

* Shares up 0.8 percent in falling market (Adds details, share price)

MOSCOW, Sept 3 (Reuters) - Russian potash producer Uralkali posted an 89 percent jump in first-half profit, ahead of analysts' forecasts, as the global economic recovery boosted demand for food.

The company, controlled by tycoon Suleiman Kerimov, said net profit rose to 8.4 billion roubles ($288.6 million) for the six months to end June, up from 4.5 billion in the same period last year.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a profit of 7.5 billion roubles.

Kerimov is in the process of creating a national potash mining champion via the merger of his stakes in Uralkali and domestic rival Silvinit.

The combined company would be the world's second largest producer of potash -- a key component of fertiliser used in farming -- and would rival Canada's Potash Corp, currently the subject of a $39 billion hostile takeover approach from BHP Billiton. Uralkali shares were up 0.8 percent by 1024 GMT, while the broader Moscow index fell 0.1 percent.

(Reporting by John Bowker; Editing by Dmitry Sergeyev and Erica Billingham)

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