Russia's TMK H1 net profit up 26 pct at $289 mln

MOSCOW, Sept 28 (Reuters) - Russian steel pipe maker TMK (TRMKq.L) (TRMK.MM) said net profit rose by 26 percent in the first half of this year to $289.1 million according to International Financial Reporting Standards.

TMK, majority owned by billionaire Dmitry Pumpyansky, posted revenue in January through June of $2.03 billion, up 28.1 percent year-on-year.

The company previously said it had shipped 1.58 million tonnes of steel pipes in the first half of 2007, 8 percent more than a year ago.

Earnings before interest, taxation, amortisation and depreciation (EBITDA) rose 26.9 percent to $499.5 million and the EBITDA margin fell to 24.6 percent from 24.8 percent, TMK said in a statement issued late on Thursday.

Net debt rose by 37.3 percent to $1.03 billion.

TMK, or Trubnaya Metallurguicheskaya Kompaniya, is the world's third-largest steel pipe maker by market capitalisation. The company raised over $1 billion in a London share listing last year that was more than 19 times oversubscribed.

The company has said it plans to increase revenue this year by 18 percent to $4 billion and EBITDA 26 percent to $1 billion.

TMK, which produces around 7 percent of the world's seamless pipes, unites the Volga, Sinara (SNTZ.RTS) and Seversky (SVTZ.RTS) pipe works, Taganrog Metallurgical Works (TAMZ.RTS), Orsk Machinery Works and two plants in Romania Artrom pipe works and TMK-Resita metallurgical works.