* Comparative store sales down 1 percent year to date
* Fall/Winter 2009 orders down 9 percent
* Shares up more than 3 percent (Adds MD quotes, background, updates shares)
By Marie-Louise Gumuchian and Cristina Carlevaro
MILAN, July 28 (Reuters) - Italian shoemaker Geox confirmed its target for 2009 sales "broadly in line" with last year's and reported a 4 percent rise in first-half revenues but a fall in net profit as it opened more stores around the world.
At the end of the third week in July, sales at directly-owned stores opened for at least a year were down 1 percent, Corporate Managing Director Massimo Stefanello told Reuters in a telephone interview.
"Like for like (sales) for the first half were down 2 percent. July was better," Stefanello said, adding that July was the summer discounts period in Italy.
The maker of "no sweat" shoes, which opened 57 new stores in the first half of the year from Naples to Montreal, is targeting a total 120-130 new openings for the year, Stefanello said.
He said it was still too early to say how many stores Geox would open next year.
Geox is targeting 2009 sales in line with the 892.5 million euros ($1.27 billion) in 2008. It expects the EBITDA margin below last year's by no more than 200 basis points.
"Based on the sales achieved in the first half and on the positive start of the Autumn/Winter season, I believe that Geox (full-year) sales will be broadly in line with those of 2008," Chairman Mario Moretti Polegato said in a statement.
The company said Autumn/Winter orders were down 9 percent. When Geox presented first-quarter results in May, orders for the collection were down 13 percent, with one of the reasons being a cautious credit/trade policy.
They were down 4 percent in Italy and down 15 percent for Europe. They were up 6 percent in North America but off 15 percent in the rest of the world. For footwear, orders were down 12 percent while for apparel they were up 7 percent.
Polegato said Geox was taking steps to tighten its "already streamlined" supply and distribution chain. The company is reducing costs by shutting down non-performing stores and is also shutting two factories.
"Geox is not just in good health, it is in optimal health," Polegato told Reuters in the interview.
Geox said in a statement first-half revenues rose 4 percent to 482.9 million euros. Net profit was 64.6 million euros from 78.6 million euros a year ago. The figure was adjusted for non-cash, non comparable costs, it said.
Footwear sales, which represent 90 percent of turnover, rose 1.2 percent to 438.3 million euros, while apparel sales rose 43 percent to 44.6 million euros.
When asked about possible synergies between Geox and Italian sportswear brand Diadora, an investment of Polegato's family, the executive said it was a personal investment and he was looking at when to present an industrial plan.
"It is difficult to say when, the market is difficult," he said. Geox shares rose 3.19 percent at 5.34 euros at 1442 GMT. (Additional reporting by Nigel Tutt; Editing by Rupert Winchester)