UPDATE 1-High Liner Foods Q2 profit rises, hikes dividend

* Q2 EPS C$0.22 vs C$0.18 last yr

* Sales up 8 pct

Aug 11 (Reuters) - Canada's High Liner Foods Inc (HLF.TO) HLF.A, a frozen seafood company, reported a 26 percent increase in second-quarter earnings, helped by growth in its Canadian operations, and increased its quarterly dividend by 12 percent.

High Liner reported a net income of C$4.1 million, or 22 Canadian cents a share, up from C$3.3 million, or 18 Canadian cents a share, a year earlier.

The company, which increased its dividend to 7 Canadian cents a share, said sales were up 8 percent at C$151.4 million.

"Our business is proving to be fairly recession resistant... while the current economy has no doubt caused some consumers to change where and how they spend their money, they continue to buy seafood," Chief Executive Henry Demone said in a statement.

"We remain well positioned for continued growth."

Shares of the company closed at C$7.83 Tuesday on the Toronto Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Amit Kumar in Bangalore; Editing by Anne Pallivathuckal)