Wellington, Aug 12 NZPA - Turners and Growers Ltd has posted a rise in interim underlying profit and is forecasting a rise in annual profit.

The fresh food marketer reported a pre-tax profit of $10.1 million in the six months to June 30, up from $8.64 million on the same period last year.

The profit after tax of $2.25m was down from $6.05m last year. Taking out a $4.9 million accounting charge for the impact of the government policy to stop depreciation on buildings for tax purposes the adjusted profit after tax was $7.1m.

Revenue fell 7.3 percent to $291m.

"While the fresh produce industry has been impacted by events outside our control, at this stage we expect the year end forecast, excluding one-off tax adjustments, to be up on last year," Turners and Growers' chairman Tony Gibbs said.

He expressed disappointment but not surprise at the Australian decision this week to appeal a World Trade Organisation (WTO) ruling against Australia's ban on New Zealand apples.

The WTO ruling was extremely positive for the New Zealand apple industry, Mr Gibbs said.

Turners and Growers is already growing Enza apple varieties in Australia to supply Australian markets.

The company said its domestic markets produced an outstanding result in the first quarter, and the high New Zealand dollar helped the company's import division.

The expansion of Turners Transport division into the South Island has been very successful leading to the division's overall contribution being more than double that of the previous year.

Fruitmark -- a trader of dehydrates, apple juice concentrate, frozen fruits and fresh cut produce -- experienced rapid growth and now has a joint venture in Belgium trading frozen fruit products.

Hail in the Hawke's Bay at the beginning of the season severely affected Enza's pipfruit orchards and reduced the national crop available to export.

"Fortunately our costs were covered by hail insurance and the impact on profit was not significant," Mr Gibbs said.

Turners and Growers citrus and kiwifruit growing operation in Kerikeri, Kerifresh, was performing well following comprehensive restructuring in 2008 and 2009.

Large tracks of kiwifruit at the Kerifresh facility are being grafted with Enza's new exclusive kiwifruit varieties and will be fully producing within the next couple of years.

Turners and Growers is New Zealand's leading distributor, marketer and exporter of premium fresh produce and the largest corporate horticulture investor.

The company said the board is investigating a possible upgrade of its Auckland site.

The board did not declare a dividend.

It expects the annual profit, excluding one-off tax adjustments, to be up on last year.