Bulgarian company Kaolin, one of the biggest mining firms in southeast Europe, posted a 17 per cent increase in first-halfconsolidated revenue, data filed to the Bulgarian Stock Exchange showed.

Sales rose by 21 per cent to 66.7 million leva over the review period. The company has forecast a 2008 sales increase of at least 20 per cent. Earnings posted a real decline of 43 per cent to 6.2 million leva in the first six months of 2008.

A year earlier, the company reported a net profit of 12.9 million leva, mainly due to the one-off event of recovering a security furnished for participation in a sell-off tender.

Kaolin said that foreign subsidiaries - Srbokvarc and Kopovi in Serbia and PKSP in Ukraine - made the biggest contribution to consolidated earnings in the first six months of the year.

First-half costs outpaced the rise in revenues, increasing by 30 per cent to 62 million leva. The surge was mainly due to higher costs of input materials and external services.

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