* H1 profit from insurance ops 228 million eur
* Names chief risk officer, forms new steering committee
* Will reveal strategic review in four weeks
* Shares down 1.6 percent
(Recasts, adds stock open, analyst)
By Ben Berkowitz
AMSTERDAM, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Belgian insurance group Fortis took a major step in its restructuring on Thursday, returning to profit in its core business and setting a date for the results of a key strategic review.
The company also said it would look at a new capital structure more appropriate to a typical insurance company, after it was effectively broken up last October. Evolution Securities analyst Jaap Meijer said the strategic review may result in Fortis changing its reporting structure to be more like a traditional insurance company. He also expected a possible buyback of some hybrid capital securities, as well as other possible repurchases.
"I think they have some excess cash, so I think they will maybe buy back some bonds," he told Reuters. Fortis's cash position improved to nearly 3 billion euros at the end of the first half, up from 1.95 billion euros at the end of 2008.
Fortis shares were down 1.6 percent to 3.155 euros at 0802 GMT in Brussels, reversing an earlier gain.
The Belgian arm of what remains of the former Low Countries financial powerhouse is primarily an insurance business with a dominant position in Belgium and operations in parts of Europe and Asia.
The Fortis group was broken up along national lines last October - a victim of the global financial crisis - after a partial nationalisation by the governments of Belgium, Luxembourg and the Netherlands.
The Dutch state took control of the Netherlands operations, including Fortis Bank Nederland. France's BNP Paribas took control of Fortis Bank and a quarter of Fortis Insurance Belgium.
The part of the former Fortis' insurance business now consolidated in Belgium turned a profit of 228 million euros in the first half, the majority of which came from its life operations. It lost 313 million euros in the insurance business in the second half of 2008.
Fortis had previously said inflows were strong in April and May after posting a first-quarter profit. Gross inflows rose 17 percent in the first half compared with the last six months of 2008.
Separately, Fortis named Kurt De Schepper as chief risk officer and formed a new management committee, which includes the executive committee, the CFO and the CEOs of the company's four geographic divisions.
Fortis' net profit in the first half totalled 886 million euros, driven primarily by one-off transaction-related gains from the various nationalisations and asset sales that surrounded last year's breakup.
The stock is up about 34 percent since a recent trough on July 13, compared with a rise of about 28 percent over the same period for the DJ STOXX European insurance index.
(Reporting by Ben Berkowitz; Editing by John Stonestreet and Erica Billingham)