Kazakh uranium firm Jan-Sept net profit up

ALMATY, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Net profit of Kazakh uranium company Kazatomprom rose to 21.3 billion tenge ($176 million) in the first nine months of the year from 18.6 billion tenge in the same 2006 period, according to data published on Thursday.

The unaudited consolidated earnings were published in the official Kazakhstan Pravda newspaper.

The company plans to raise uranium production to 15,000 tonnes by 2010 from last year's 3,000 tonnes on the back of rising global uranium prices as it seeks to become a key player in the booming uranium sector. (Reporting by Tatyana Seroshtanova, Writing by Maria Golovnina; editing by Paul Boldingina@reuters.com, Almaty Bureau, almaty.newsroom@reuters.com +7 727 250 85 00))