* H1 operating profit up 3.8 percent to 4.1 billion euros
* Forecast was for 4.05 billion euros
* Reiterates sees 2009 operating profit unchanged vs 2008
* Shares seen up 3.6 percent in premarket trading
* German benchmark index DAX seen higher 3.8 percent (Adds analyst comment, share price indication)
FRANKFURT, Aug 13 (Reuters) - RWE, Europe's fifth-largest utility, met forecasts with a 3.8 percent rise in first-half operating profit, as lucrative power sales made up for weak earnings in Britain and from selling gas.
RWE said on Thursday it made an operating profit of 4.1 billion euros ($5.8 billion) in the six months to June, in line with the 4.05 billion average forecast in a Reuters poll.
It also reiterated that it expected operating profit and recurrent net income -- net income adjusted for extraordinary effects -- to be unchanged in 2009 compared with 2008 when it posted operating earnings of 6.8 billion euros.
Kepler Capital Markets analyst Ingo Becker said the first-half "earnings are only so-so as the company benefited from its volatile energy trading unit, while core divisions such as Britain and gas disappointed.
"But as the company did not change its guidance it seems to assume that both the positive and the negative effects will even out in the remainder of the year," he said.
RWE shares were indicated to open 3.6 percent higher at 66.75 euros in trading before markets opened, according to Lang & Schwarz brokerage, which indicated the German benchmark index DAX would open up 3.8 percent.
Utilities in Europe have been hit by a slide in demand and prices as key industrial customers cut energy use as the economic crisis weighs on demand for their products.
On Wednesday, RWE peer E.ON, the world's largest utility, was one of the first in its sector to say it saw signs demand for energy was stabilising. RWE is taking over Dutch peer Essent for some 8.2 billion euros after failing to win other assets up for sale in Europe, such as British Energy. The sale will be closed in the third quarter, it reiterated on Thursday.
RWE's shares trade at 8.4 times estimated earnings for the next 12 months, less than the 10.9 multiple of 21 multi-utilities, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine, which values analysts estimates according to their track record.
The company's stock has dropped 23 percent in twelve months, less than the 30 percent decline of the DJ Stoxx utilities index but more than the 20 percent slide of the German benchmark index DAX. (Reporting by Peter Dinkloh; Editing by Dan Lalor) ($1 = 0.7079 euro)