UPDATE 2-Kewill profit up; to raise 7.5 mln stg via placing

* H1 pretax profit up 48 pct to 549,000 stg

* Revenue rises 11 pct to 27.2 mln stg

* Interim dividend up 17 pct to 0.35p/shr

* To place 8.1 mln shares at 92 pence apiece

* Shares up 6 pct (Adds CEO comments)

By Purwa Naveen Raman

BANGALORE, Nov 10 (Reuters) - Software firm Kewill Plc (KWL.L) posted a 48 percent rise in first-half pretax profit, increased its dividend, and said it would raise 7.5 million pounds ($12.51 million) through a placing to fund future acquisitions, sending its shares up 6 percent.

The company, which supplies software to the global logistics sector, said it was confident of the full-year results, helped by new contract wins.

"Combining that (contract wins) with our continued focus on the strong cost control gives us confidence that we can meet what the market is expecting for the full year," Chief Executive Paul Nichols said by phone.