Nexans H1 profit flat, cancels sale of unit

PARIS, July 24 (Reuters) - Nexans, the world's biggest cable maker and industrial copper buyer, posted flat first-half profits on Thursday and said it had cancelled the possible sale of one of its businesses due to tough market conditions.

The company said its first-half net profit stood at 119 million euros ($187 million), unchanged from last year.

"The possible sale of our automotive cable harnesses business has been abandoned. Considering the state of the markets, the proposed valuation multiples were not in line with the group's or with the business's potential," said Nexans Chairman and Chief Executive Gerard Hauser. (Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta and Pascale Denis, editing by Will Waterman)