Australia's St George Bank H1 profit up 6.2 pct

SYDNEY, May 6 (Reuters) - St George Bank Ltd (SGB.AX: Quote, Profile, Research), Australia's fifth-biggest lender, reported a 6.2 percent rise in first-half cash profit, driven by growth in retail deposits and lending to mid-sized businesses, but trimmed its year earnings growth target.

Cash profit rose to A$603 million ($569 million) in the six months to March from A$568 million a year earlier.

Four analysts on average had forecast cash earnings of A$623.5 million, with the forecasts ranging from A$610 million to A$633 million.

St George trimmed its full-year earnings per share growth target to 8-10 percent from 10 percent.

With higher funding costs and the bulk of its business in the state of New South Wales, where economic growth has slowed, analysts had said the bank might not achieve its target of 10 percent earnings per share growth this year.

Shares in St George have fallen 12.2 percent so far this year, beating a 18.1 percent fall in the financials index . ($1=A$1.06) (Reporting by Miranda Maxwell)