** Shares of Steel & Tube Holdings Ltd STU.NZ rise as much
as 2.5% to NZ$0.82, their highest since Jan. 30
** Steel products maker says it expects better H2 compared
with H1 urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nGLFjWX7j
** Excluding items, co's H1 earnings before interest and
taxes came in at NZ$5.7 mln ($3.61 mln), compared with NZ$9.7
mln a year earlier
** STU posts HY loss attributable of NZ$37 mln, compared
with a profit of NZ$5.6 mln a year earlier, mainly due to a
one-time goodwill impairment of NZ$37.1 mln
** Co had flagged the impact of debt write-offs and
restructuring costs on H1 earnings urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nFWN27V10Q
** Stock had risen 1.3% this year, as of last close
($1 = 1.5770 New Zealand dollars)
(Reporting by Arpit Nayak)
((Arpit.Nayak@thomsonreuters.com;))