Nigeria's Seplat reports first-half profit down 26 pct

LAGOS (Reuters) - Nigerian oil and gas firm Seplat said on Friday its half-year pretax profit fell to $156 million, down 26 percent from $210 million a year earlier. Gross revenue also fell 7 percent to $388 million during the period to June 30, it said in its first interim results following a debut $500 million IPO in April. Seplat achieved first-half average oil production of 27,375 barrels per day, against 27,183 barrels per day in 2013 and plans to invest around $250 million in 2014.