NZ's PGG Wrightson H1 profit falls 81 percent

WELLINGTON, Feb 26 (Reuters) - New Zealand's largest listed rural services company PGG Wrightson Ltd (PGW.NZ) on Thursday reported a 81 percent fall in first half net profit, as one-off costs offset strong trading.

The company made a net profit of NZ$4.65 million ($2.4 million) in the six months to Dec. 31, compared with NZ$34.6 million from the same period last year.

It declared no interim dividend, after paying 5 cents a share last year.

PGG Wrightson said its trading performance had improved, but one-off costs involved with a failed merger with meat processor Silver Fern Farms hit profit.

The company also said it had received bank commitments for its existing NZ$475 million facilities.

Shares in the company, formed in late 2005 when Wrightson Ltd joined with Pyne Gould Guinness Ltd, last traded up 9.7 percent at NZ$0.79 on light turnover, in a flat broader market .NZ50.

The merged company has around 15 percent share in a fragmented and competitive rural services market worth more than NZ$5 billion a year. It provides retail, finance, livestock and property services to farmers and rural communities.

It competes with major banks such as ANZ-National Bank (ANZ.AX) to provide finance to farmers, and in retail and trading services with Fonterra's RD-1 chain and smaller operators such as Allied Farmers Ltd. (ALF.NZ). ($1=NZ$1.96)