* H1 net profit at 0.23 million eur
* H1 turnover up 32 percent at 61 million euros
ATHENS, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Greece's Piraeus Port (OLP), one of the largest in the Mediterranean, said on Thursday it crossed into profit in the first half after cargo traffic increased.
Net profit reached 0.23 million euros versus a loss of 4.37 million euros in the same period last year. Piraeus Port said sales rose 32 percent to 61 million euros ($86.84 million).
"Turnover rose due to an increase in cargo business, which led to a 102.17 percent rise in revenues," the company said in a statement.
Revenues from the car terminal fell more than 50 percent in the first half of 2009 as the global economic downturn hit car imports, OLP said.
The company had suffered a loss last year because dockworkers refused to work overtime in protest at the privatisation of the cargo business.
China's Cosco Pacific, the world's fifth-largest port operator, last year signed a 3.4 billion euro deal with OLP to run cargo facilities at Piraeus for 35 years, starting from October 2009.
OLP, which is 74 percent state-owned, has seen its shares gaining about 56 percent since the start of the year, outperforming a 42 percent rise in the Athens' general stock index. (Reporting by Renee Maltezou; editing by Rupert Winchester)