UPDATE 1-Velan Q1 profit nearly doubles

* Q1 EPS C$0.64 vs C$0.33 yr ago

* Sales slip 13.6 pct

* Shares up nearly 7 pct

July 9 (Reuters) - Industrial valve maker Velan Inc (VLN.TO) said its quarterly profit nearly doubled, helped mainly by a stronger U.S. dollar.

"The principal factor positively impacting the gross profit percentage continues to be the fluctuation of the Canadian dollar exchange rate against the U.S. dollar," the company said in a statement.

For the first quarter ended May 31, net income was C$14.3 million, or 64 Canadian cents a share, compared with C$7.3 million, or 33 Canadian cents a share, a year earlier.

Sales, however, fell 13.6 percent to C$120.4 million, hurt by contract delays.

Shares of the Montreal, Quebec-based company rose nearly 7 percent to C$11.85 Thursday afternoon on the Toronto Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Koustav Samanta in Bangalore; Editing by Maju Samuel)