* Pretax profit rises 16 pct, revenue up 1.9 pct
* To pay interim dividend of 0.52p/shr
* Makro unit turns around, makes profit - CEO (Adds CEO, analyst comments, details, share movement)
By Noor Zainab Hussain and Aastha Agnihotri
Oct 16 (Reuters) - Booker Group Plc, Britain'sbiggest cash-and-carry wholesaler, reported a nearly 2 percentrise in first-half sales and said trading in the first fourweeks of the second half was ahead of the same period last year.
It was on track to meet its plans for the year, theWellingborough-based company said.
Total sales for the first half rose to 2.3 billion pounds($3.67 billion) for the 24 weeks ended Sept. 12 from 2.2 billionpounds a year earlier, the company said.
Booker, which runs 172 branches supplying grocery, spirits,tobacco and non-food items to caterers, convenience stores,restaurants and pubs in the UK, said pretax profit beforeexceptionals jumped 16 percent to 67.4 million pounds.
Booker's like-for-like sales excluding Makro were up 2.4percent.
"Retail had a good 1H, which should help allay fears thatthe deteriorating grocery climate is taking a toll on Booker,"Investec analyst Nicola Mallard wrote in a note to clients.
Booker bought Makro, a then loss-making business in 2012,from German retailer Metro AG to reach customers suchas small firms and hotels.
Metro, which became Booker's largest shareholder as a resultof the deal, sold its 9 percent stake in the wholesaler earlierlast month for 196 million pounds.
Booker Chief Executive Charles Wilson told Reuters that thecompany had turned Makro around from a loss of 20 million poundsto a profit of 11 million pounds last year.
Booker's non-tobacco like-for-like sales rose 3.4 percent inthe first half, and Wilson added this was strong relative to themarket.
"The market is undoubtedly tougher, but Booker has a numberof growth drivers and we continue to expect profits to grow by15 percent in the current year," Peel Hunt analyst Charles Hallsaid in a note to clients, calling Booker's results "a starkcontrast to the major food retailers".
Tobacco sales rose 0.6 percent in the period.
CEO Wilson said the company expected tobacco sales to besubdued "for a long time to come" but it was seeing the growthof e-cigarettes at the moment.
However, as long as the 30,000 of Booker's independent momand pop stores customer base sold tobacco, the company wouldsell tobacco, Wilson said.
Sales at the company's Internet business rose 12 percent to413 million pounds.
The company raised its interim dividend to 0.52 pence pershare from 0.45 pence last year.
Booker shares were up 0.5 percent at 118 pence at 0854 GMTon the London Stock Exchange on Thursday. ($1 = 0.6264 British pound) (Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)
