UPDATE 2-E-House China Q2 profit up, sees Q3 rev above market

* Q2 earnings per ADS $0.24 vs year-ago $0.14/ADS

* Sees Q3 rev $78-80 mln

* Sees strong Q4, driven by project pipeline

* Shares hit year-high

(Adds conference call details, analyst comments, updates share movement)

By Biswarup Gooptu

BANGALORE, Aug 12 (Reuters) - Real estate services company E-House China Holdings Ltd (EJ.N) posted a 65 percent rise in second-quarter profit, buoyed by a rebound in the Chinese real estate sector, and forecast third-quarter revenue above Wall Street estimates, sending its shares to a year-high.

E-House said it expects third-quarter revenue between $78 million and $80 million, well above the consensus view of $52.7 million, according to Reuters Estimates.

In a conference call with analysts, chief financial officer Li-Lan Cheng said the company's development pipeline played a significant role in determining the outlook.

Li-Lan also said he expected commission rates to widely improve, based on projects scheduled in the second-half of the year.

China's property markets have been undergoing a strong revival in recent times, helped by favorable government policies, including cheaper mortgages and lower downpayments.

On a monthly basis, property prices rose 0.8 percent in June, compared with a rise of 0.6 percent in May, according to the country's economic planning agency National Development and Reform Commission. [ID:nHKG361212]

STRONG QUARTER

For the second quarter ended June 30, E-House reported net income of $19.3 million, or 24 cents per American Depository Share (ADS), compared with $11.7 million, or 14 cents per ADS, a year ago.

Excluding special items, it earned 27 cents per ADS.

Revenue rose 48 percent to $63.5 million.

Analysts on average, had expected 17 cents per ADS, on revenue of $50.7 million.

Lazard Capital Markets analyst Colin Sebastian said E-House's fundamentals were the drivers of its strong performance.

"They're seeing a lot of strength across the board," Sebastian said, adding that the company is increasing its market share in an accelerating Chinese real estate sector.

E-House's pipeline for the rest of 2009 demonstrates strong visibility, the analyst said.

For new properties sold, gross floor area increased almost three-fold to 2.7 million square meters, while the total value of new properties sold, nearly tripled to $3 billion.

"We're seeing evidence that the Chinese real estate market has turned around, and this report is a confirmation of that," Sebastian noted.

In July, China's National Bureau of Statistics said property sales measured by volume increased 31.7 percent in the first half, up from a gain of 25.5 percent in the first five months. [ID:nPEK248957]

American Depository Shares of the Shanghai-based company touched a high of $24.20 earlier in the session, before paring some of its gains to trade up $2.24, at $22.30 in midday trade on the New York Stock Exchange. (Editing by Unnikrishnan Nair, Pradeep Kurup)