Aveva signals revenue growth in the second half

LONDON (Reuters) - Aveva, the British software company targeted by its top shareholder Schneider Electric, said on Tuesday it expected revenue to grow in the second half, while increases in its cost base that squeezed first-half profit would abate.

The company reported a 2.5% drop in revenue on an organic constant-currency basis to 553.8 million pounds ($635.3 million)for the six months to end-September.

Higher costs, particularly in research and development and sales, resulted in adjusted operating profit falling 42% to 72.9 million pounds, it said.

($1 = 0.8718 pounds)

(Reporting by Paul Sandle; Editing by Sachin Ravikumar)