Argos owner Home Retail first half profit rises 13 pct

LONDON, Oct 22 (Reuters) - Home Retail (Other OTC: HMRLF - news) , Britain's biggest household goods retailer, posted a 13 percent rise in underlying first half profit, reflecting sales growth at both its Argos and Homebase chains.

The group said on Wednesday it made profit before tax and one off items of 30.9 million pounds ($49.8 million) in the six months to Aug. 30.

That compares to analysts' average forecast of 34.6 million pounds and 27.4 million pounds made in the same period last year.

The firm also said on Wednesday it was on track to make underlying pretax profit for the 2014-15 year in line with market expectations - 127 million pounds, according to Reuters data, up from 115 million pounds in 2013-14.

However, it said the full-year outcome will, as always, depend upon Argos' Christmas trading.

(US dollar = 0.6203 British pound) (Reporting by James Davey; Editing by Neil Maidment)