Russia Wimm-Bill-Dann H1 net income up 7.1 pct y/y

MOSCOW, Sept 2 (Reuters) - Russian dairy and juice producer Wimm-Bill-Dann WBD.N said on Thursday its second quarter net profit dropped by a third q-on-q but its first half net income increased by 7.1 percent year-on-year.

On the back of restored consumer demand following the economic crisis, company first half net income was $69.5 million. For the second quarter it earned $35.9 million, versus the $52.3 million of the second quarter of last year.

The company said there have been "significant improvements in marketshare across our dairy, beverages, and baby food segments, as demand restores back to levels we have not seen since before the global economic crisis," Chief Executive Officer Tony Maher said in a statement.

Group revenue increased by 17.1 percent to $1.2 billion in the first six months of the year, driven by volume growth in the dairy, beverages and baby food segments and favourable pricing across all segments, Maher added.

The group gross margin declined by 400 basis points year-on-year, to 29.9 percent, as a result of the continued pressure on milk costs in the first six months of 2010.

However Wimm-Bill-Dann's gross margin increased consecutively to 31.8 percent in the second quarter of 2010 from 28.0 percent in the first quarter of 2010.

(Reporting by Dmitry Sergeyev, editing by Amie Ferris-Rotman)