UPDATE 2-Healthcare Locums H1 pretax profit up 64 pct

* Confident of meeting FY market estimates for profit, rev

* H1 revenue up 8.5 pct to 86.5 mln stg

* Doubles interim dividend to 1.6 pence

* Mo Dedat replaces Andy McRae as COO

* Shares fall 6 percent (Recasts; adds vice chairman, analyst comments)

By Tresa Sherin Morera

BANGALORE, Sept 7 (Reuters) - Medical staffing company Healthcare Locums Plc (HLO.L) reported a 64 percent rise in first-half pretax profit helped by strong global demand for healthcare staff, and said it was confident of meeting market expectations for profit and revenue for the year.

"Analysts are predicting a turnover between 203 million to 210 million pounds (for the year). They've got pretax profit numbers between 29 million and 32 million pounds," Executive Vice Chairman Kate Bleasdale told Reuters.

"I am very comfortable with the numbers that are out there," Bleasdale said.

Shares of the company, which rose slightly in the morning session on Monday, were trading 6 percent lower at 205 pence at 1010 GMT.

"You have to bear in mind that these shares have doubled in the past year, so there is an element of profit taking going on," said Kevin Lapwood, analyst with Seymour Pierce. "But the half-year results weren't quite as good as what people were expecting."

The company, which supplies staff to hospitals and social services, also doubled its interim dividend to 1.6 pence from 0.8 pence.

Healthcare Locums said its UK divisions continued to outperform, and the company was making significant investments to grow its international division, with new offices in Australia, Canada and the Middle East.

"There are two things that are really driving the growth here in the UK -- we have got an ageing population and a growing population. So more healthcare is required," Bleasdale said.

She said the company was dependent on workers from abroad to fulfil the demand in the UK.

"To that end, we have opened a number of international offices in the first half of this year, in addition to the ones we have already," Bleasdale said.

Analyst Lapwood, however, also cast doubt over the company's full-year results as "there will be public sector spending curbs in the UK in most of the businesses in the UK, and some of those cuts may well fall on areas of healthcare."

For the half-year ended June 30, the company posted a pretax profit of 9.5 million pounds ($15.6 million), compared with 5.8 million pounds a year earlier. Revenue rose 8.5 percent to 86.5 million pounds.

Organic growth rate rose 37.6 percent, while annualised run rate turnover is now 206 million pounds, up 13 percent over the last four months, the company said in a statement.

The company, whose net debt stood at 21.2 million pounds, said it was not looking at any acquisitions in the short term.

"There is no need for us to complete any acquisitions, because we will continue to get the growth organically. We are expanding our international position also organically," Bleasdale said.

Healthcare Locum said Chief Operating Officer Andy McRae had resigned, and he would be replaced by former Finance Director Mo Dedat. ($1=.6104 Pound) ( Additional reporting by Balachander Surianarayanan in Bangalore; Editing by Kavita Chandran)