UPDATE 1-Axel Springer's H1 down on ad slump, sees no recovery

* Says H1 sales down 6.6 percent

* Sees no signs of market recovery

(adds CEO comments, detail, background)

BONN, Germany, Aug 6 (Reuters) - German publisher Axel Springer (SPRGn.DE) posted a decline in first half sales and core profit and said it still did not see any signs of market improvement amid a steady decline in advertising spending.

"As expected Axel Springer has been unable to separate itself from the massive decline of the advertising market," Chief Executive Mathias Doepfner said in a statement on Thursday.

Doepfner had forecast that the publisher of Europe's best-selling tabloid Bild would face a significant decline in earnings and revenues this year compared with record levels of the previous year.

"We currently see no signs of recovery in our most important markets," Doepfner said.

"We have used the crisis to make very selective adjustments to our portfolio, thereby allowing us to place even greater emphasis on our strong print and online brands," he added.

Group revenues for the first half-year were 1.25 billion euros ($1.80 billion), down 6.6 percent. Earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) were 162.3 million euros compared with 213.9 million euros for the previous year's period.

Springer, like its peers, has been trying to tap online media to compensate for falling ad revenue in print. It has also implemented cost-savings and sped up its expansion abroad.

Springer said an increase in advertising revenues of 15.1 percent in the Digital Media segment partly compensated for the sharp decline in advertising revenues suffered by print media segments. Overall advertising revenues for the first half-year fell by 13.0 percent to 541.5 million euros.

Springer's controlling shareholder is the Axel Springer society, with 51.5 percent.

Deutsche Bank holds a stake of 8.3 percent, Axel Springer AG holds 10 percent and Friede Springer, deputy chairwoman of the supervisory board and widow of founder Axel Springer, owns 7 percent.

(Reporting by Nicola Leske)