UPDATE 1-Glanbia says on track for full-year profit growth

(Adds details, background, shares, analyst comment)

DUBLIN, July 4 (Reuters) - Irish food group Glanbia (GL9.I: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Friday it had a good first half and was on track to meet market expectations for full-year profit growth, boosting shares in the company as much as 5.2 percent.

"A good first-half performance and a relatively positive market environment supports the outlook for the remainder of the year for Glanbia," Managing Director John Moloney said in a trading statement.

"As a group we are on target to meet current full-year market expectations and look forward to delivering another year of double digit growth in 2008."

Analysts currently expect the maker of dairy products and nutritional ingredients to post a 14.5 percent rise in adjusted earnings per share (EPS) this year after a 25 percent rise in 2007, according to the Reuters Estimates average forecast. Glanbia (GL9.L: Quote, Profile, Research), which will report first-half results on Aug. 27, said all its divisions had performed broadly as expected in the first six months of the year thanks to "relatively positive" market conditions.

"Global dairy prices and demand are somewhat weaker when compared with the exceptional growth of 2007 but look set to remain above historical trends," the company said.

Shares in Glanbia, which have risen 27 percent over the last 12 months and outperformed a 48 percent fall in the broader Irish market, were 5.0 percent higher at 4.88 euros by 0912 GMT having earlier risen to as high as 4.89 euros.

"Although the trading update is as expected, it should be positively viewed and received," Davy analyst John O'Reilly wrote in a research note. "We maintain our forecast for EPS growth of 15.2 percent." (Reporting by Paul Hoskins; Editing by Quentin Bryar)