Sausage-skin maker Devro's sales rise

July 31 (Reuters) - British sausage-skin maker Devro Plc reported a 6 percent rise in profit for the first half helped by meat products sales in emerging markets and strong demand for its premium 'Select' brand.

Devro, which makes collagen casings for everything from German bratwurst to British breakfast bangers, said it continued to expect volume growth for the rest of the year, driven by Select, which replicates the characteristics of sheep gut.

The company expects Select to contribute 8 percent of sales in 2012.

The Scotland-based company raised its interim dividend by 6 percent to 2.65 pence per share.

Pretax profit rose to 20.2 million pounds ($31.70 million) for January-June from 19.1 million pounds a year earlier.

Profit excluded net finance expense of 613,000 pounds.

Revenue grew 8 percent to 115.4 million pounds.

Devro shares, which have risen 17 percent since the start of the year, were down 1 percent at 300 pence on the London Stock Exchange on Tuesday.