Russia's Mechel says H1 core earnings up 9 pct y/y

MOSCOW, Aug 29 (Reuters) - Russian coal and steel producer Mechel said on Monday its first-half core earnings, or EBITDA, rose 9 percent year on year to 25.7 billion roubles ($396 million).

Mechel's net profit for the first half of the year totalled 8.3 billion roubles, compared to a loss of 16.7 billion roubles a year earlier, the company said in a statement. Its revenue was flat at 130.2 billion roubles.

($1 = 64.9055 roubles) (Reporting by Polina Devitt; editing by Alexander Winning)