SSL says on target as H1 sales rise 20 percent

LONDON (Reuters) - Condom maker SSL International (SSL.L) is on course to hit its earnings targets after sales grew 20 percent during the first half of the year, the company said on Tuesday.

SSL, whose products include Durex condoms and Scholl footwear, said sales in the six months to September 30 were 387 million pounds, up from 322.5 million pounds in the same period last year.

SSL chief executive Garry Watts said the company was confident of achieving its goal of growing earnings per share by 50 percent in the three years to March 2012.

"We are pleased with the first half performance," Watts said in a statement.

"Our core business continued to show good like-for-like growth notwithstanding the challenging economic conditions in the period."

SSL shares closed at 642 pence on Monday, valuing the company at about 1.3 billion pounds. The stock has risen 33 percent since the beginning of the year.

(Reporting by Myles Neligan; editing by Paul Hoskins)