French construction giant Lafarge, the world's largest cement maker, posted a 53-percent rise in its first-half net profit, the company said Wednesday.

In the first half of 2006, Lafarge's net profit totaled 548 million euros (702 million U.S. dollars) on sales of 8.76 billion euros (11.22 billion dollars), compared with 359 million euros (450 million dollars) in the corresponding period last year, said a statement from the company carried on its website.

Its operating profit in the first half of 2006 also rose by 41 percent to 1.17 billion euros (1.5 billion dollars), with operating profit in the cement division up by 34 percent to 871 million euros (1114.9 million dollars), the statement said.

In the granulates and concrete sector, its operating profit surged by 74 percent to 188 million euros (240.8 million dollars), in roofing by 54 percent to 37 million euros (28.9 million dollars) and in plaster and plasterboard by 39 percent to 110 million euros (140.8 million dollars).

The statement said the profit was greatly due to "significant price increases" which had enabled it to compensate for "the big increase in energy and transportation costs."

Lafarge said that it was on target for its objectives, but it also warned that growth of second-half results would slow down because the comparable figure in 2005 was strong.

Source: Xinhua