Australia's David Jones H1 profits down 4.6 pct, beats forecasts

SYDNEY, March 19 (Reuters) - Australia's No. 2 department store operator David Jones Ltd on Wednesday reported a 4.6 percent fall in first-half net profit, the smallest decline in three years, beating expectations on improved sales and online growth.

The company said its net profit after tax was A$70.1 million ($64.02 million) in the six months ended Jan. 25, compared with A$73.5 million a year ago. The result was higher than an average forecast of A$66.7 million from four analysts.

($1 = 1.0950 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Maggie Lu Yueyang; editing by Stephen Coates and G Crosse)

((maggie.luyueyang@thomsonreuters.com)(+61-2-9373-1819)(Reuters Messaging: maggie.luyueyang.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))

Keywords: AUSTRALIA DAVIDJONES/EARNINGS