News: ORG UPDATE 1-Australia's Origin Energy posts 11% drop in H1 profit on soft energy market

(Adds details on results, outlook)

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Electricity and gas retailer Origin Energy Ltd (ORG) reported a 10.8% fall in its first-half underlying profit on Thursday as persistent weakness in its energy business overshadowed record output at its Australia Pacific LNG (APLNG) project.

Underlying profit fell to A$528 million ($352.60 million) for the six months ended Dec. 31 from A$592 million a year earlier.

Origin's energy business has witnessed substantial margin pressure due to retail power price regulations, unplanned generation outages and lower electricity volumes.

Underlying profit from its energy markets arm fell 26% to A$484 million.

However, APLNG, the biggest producer of liquefied natural gas in eastern Australia, posted a record output of 358 petajoules (PJ) in the first-half, up 5% from a year earlier.

Both operated and non-operated fields delivered improved performance, due to better well and processing availability and the commissioning of the Eurombah Reedy Creek Interconnect pipeline in July 2019, the company said in statement.

Origin, which owns a 37.5% stake in APLNG, said it expected fiscal 2020 production outlook for the project to be at the upper end of previously forecast range of around 690 PJ to 710 PJ.

APLNG is a joint venture between Origin, ConocoPhillips COP.N and China's Sinopec 600028.SS .

Origin's total revenue dropped to A$6.73 billion in the half year, from A$7.66 billion a year earlier.

The company announced an interim dividend of 15 cents per share, compared with 10 cents a year earlier.

($1 = 1.4975 Australian dollars)