UPDATE 2-Vietnam's Vinamilk H1 profit up 21 pct on strong sales

(Recasts with company comments, market close)

By Ho Binh Minh

HANOI, July 11 (Reuters) - Vietnam's top dairy firm, Vinamilk VNM.HM, reported a 21 percent rise in first-half net profit as robust exports and local demand boosted sales.

The company, the largest on the country's main stock exchange .VNI with a market value of $1.2 billion, said on Friday its six-month net profit accounted for 60.8 percent of its profit target for the full year.

"The revenue and profit growth are in place thanks to a growth in both exports and domestic sales," Vinamilk's Deputy General Director Ngo Thi Thu Trang said in a statement sent to Reuters.

The Ho Chi Minh City-based company reported a net profit of 693 billion dong ($42 million) for the first six months of 2008 on a 27 percent rise in revenue to 3.96 trillion dong .

Trang said Vinamilk's exports soared 149 percent while domestic sales rose 23 percent.

On Friday, the company's shares closed up 2.6 percent at 118,000 dong in line with a strong broader market.

Vinamilk has previously projected net profit would rise more than 18 percent this year to 1.14 trillion dong, while revenue would jump 23 percent to 8.2 trillion dong.