Mexico's Comerci posts strong rise in net profit

MEXICO CITY, July 28 (Reuters) - Comercial Mexicana, Mexico's No. 3 supermarket chain by sales, said on Wednesday that its second-quarter net profit tripled from a year ago, as it slowly recovers from its financial troubles.

The company, known as Comerci (COMEUBC.MX), earned 249.8 million pesos ($19 million) in the April-June period, compared to 83.6 million pesos in the year-ago quarter when it had to funnel money into meeting its debt problems.

Comerci defaulted in late 2008 on its obligations after taking massive losses on derivatives bets and provisioned for several quarters ahead after striking a restructuring deal with creditors in May.

Two weeks ago, Comerci submitted a prepackaged debt restructuring plan before a court but has yet to receive the go ahead from the judge.

Revenue rose 1.2 percent to 13.539 billion pesos from a year earlier, hurt by increased competition although the retailer paid nearly 40 percent less interests than in the second quarter of 2009.

Comerci shares slipped 0.17 percent to close at 11.88 pesos on Wednesday. (Reporting by Cyntia Barrera Diaz; editing by Bernard Orr)