ChelPipe's first half net profit up to 4 bln rbls

  Russian steel pipe maker ChelPipe saw its first half net profit increase 38 percent to 4.155 billion rubles, or $132.3 million to IFRS, the company said on Thursday. Revenue jumped 70 percent to 63.109 billion rubles, while EBITDA rose 37 percent to 12.495 billion, the company said in a statement. "The increases in revenue, EBITDA and net profit in the first half of 2010 are primarily the result of a strong performance in sales volumes of steel pipes and trunk pipeline systems’ core products that arose due to an increase in demand from ChelPipe’s major oil and gas customers," the firm said.