UPDATE 1-Vietnam's ACB says H1 gross profit up 13.6 pct

(Adds share price, details)

HANOI, July 17 (Reuters) - Vietnam's fifth-largest lender, Asia Commercial Bank ACB.HN, said on Thursday its first-half gross profit rose 13.6 percent from a year ago to more than 1 trillion dong ($60.5 million) as loans grew strongly.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based bank did not provide the lending value for the first half of 2007 but said in a statement loans at the end of June reached 41.9 trillion dong, or 32 percent higher than the end of last year.

Bad debt accounted for less than 0.1 percent of the loans, while ACB raised 90.35 trillion dong in deposits since the start of this year. It gave no net profit figures and the first-half results are not audited.

ACB also said it secured approval from the State Bank of Vietnam, or the central bank, to raise its registered capital -- used to determine the size of loans and deposits -- by 121 percent to 5.81 trillion dong.

The bank would use its additional reserves fund and the capital surplus left from 2007 to complete raising its capital base, the statement said.

Shares in ACB closed 3.94 percent up at 68,600 dong on Thursday. The lender is the sole listed bank on the over-the-counter Hanoi stock exchange .HASTCI, which gained 2.23 percent to end at 151.04 points.

Last year ACB's audited net profit more than tripled to 1.76 trillion while its total assets surged 91 percent to 85.39 trillion dong.

Standard Chartered Plc (STAN.L) owns 15 percent of ACB, the largest stake of four foreign shareholders which together hold a combined 30 percent. ($1=16,502 dong) (Reporting by Ho Binh Minh)