UPDATE 2-Afren raises 104.9 mln stg via placing; sees H2 profit

* Says 129.5 mln shares priced at 81 pence each

* Says to use part of proceeds for acquisitions in Nigeria

* Does not see paying dividend in the foreseeable future

* Shares pare early losses, up 25 pence (Recasts throughout, adds pricing details, CEO quote)

By Aditi Samajpati

BANGALORE, Nov 10 (Reuters) - London-listed oil and gas company Afren Plc (AFRE.L) on Tuesday raised 104.9 million pounds ($174.9 million) from a share placing to fund projects and future acquisitions, and said it did not expect to pay any dividends in the foreseeable future.

The Africa-focused company said 129.5 million shares were priced at 81 pence apiece, a nearly 10 percent discount to its Monday closing price of 89.75 pence.

Afren, which had made losses since its incorporation and has not paid dividends, forecast a profit for the second half of the year, and said it was confident of meeting the consensus view for fiscal 2009.

Analysts on average expect the company to earn $57.93 million before taxes on revenue of $326.24 million in the full year, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Earlier in the day, the company said it would raise another $25 million from the exercise of warrants and use the proceeds to accelerate development of its Ebok-Okwok complex and further infill drilling of its Cote d'Ivoire assets and the Okoro project in Nigeria.

"We are looking at acquisitions in Nigeria in the near future," Chief Executive Osman Shahenshah told Reuters by phone, and added that the company would use part of the proceeds from the placing to fund these acquisitions.

The company, which plans to move up to the London Stock Exchange's main market around Dec. 3, said it was well funded and was confident with its balance sheet.

The company trimmed its net financial debt to $161.9 million as of Sept. 30 from $214.3 million in the first half ended June 30.

Afren said it continued to make progress across its core business and was on track to begin production in the Ebok field in the first half of 2010.

The company still targets drilling 10 wells, with over 600 net million barrels of oil equivalent (bopd) by 2011 and sees production growth of up to 100,000 bopd by the end of 2012.

Afren, which was admitted to the junior market AIM in 2005, had 16 assets across Nigeria, Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Congo Brazzaville, Gabon and Nigeria Sao Tome and Principe Jointe Development Zone.