Keller Group first-half profit rises on U.S. construction demand

Aug 4 (Reuters) - Keller Group (LSE: KLR.L - news) , a ground engineering contractor, said first-half pretax profit rose 21 percent as underlying growth in the U.S. construction market continued.

The company, which lays cost-effective foundations for infrastructure, industrial, commercial and residential projects, said market conditions within Europe remained challenging.

Pretax profit rose to 32.5 million pounds ($54.7 million) for the six months ended June 30 from 26.8 million pounds a year earlier. Revenue rose 22 percent to 788.2 million pounds. ($1 = 0.5941 British Pounds) (Reporting by Aashika Jain in Bangalore; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)