Milan, July 30 - Italian dairy group Parmalat stuck to its full-year forecasts on Thursday despite a fall in its first-half net profit because of lower proceeds from the settlement of legal actions related to its 2003 collapse.
Parmalat, which makes long-life milk and juices, also said in a statement its board had approved an interim dividend for 2009 of 0.041 euros per share.
First-half net profit fell to 247.8 million euros from 425 million euros a year ago.
"A reduction in the contribution provided to the bottom line by actions to void and actions for damages ... is the main reason for this decrease," Parmalat said.
Parmalat received 178.7 million euros in the first six months of 2009 from legal settlements, compared with 426.8 million euros last year.
Parmalat regularly gets contributions to its accounts from claim settlements related to the 2003 collapse, when it buckled under 14 billion euros of debt. Parmalat was restructured and relisted in Milan in 2005.
The company said it still expects earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) in the range of 310-320 million euros, below last year's 330.6 million euros at constant exchange rates.
Revenue growth is expected to be between 2 and 4 percent.
In the first half, at constant exchange rates, net revenue was up 2.6 percent on a year ago at 1.896 billion euros.
On a current exchange rates basis first-half net revenue fell 2.9 percent to 1.848 billion euros ($2.61 billion), as it lost sales to strong private label competition in Italy, where revenues were also hit by passing on lower milk costs to consumers.
The shares were up 0.16 percent at 1.852 euros at 1202 GMT.