News: TCL UPDATE 1-Australia's Transurban H1 net up 36 pct

(Rewrites throughout, adds distribution guidance, CEO comment)

SYDNEY, Feb 7 (Reuters) - Australia's Transurban Group (TCL) on Tuesday reported a nearly 36 percent increase in first-half net profit, and raised its full-year dividend guidance by 13.2 percent while flagging the need for additional equity capital.

Net profit after tax rose to A$110 million ($84.27 million) during the six months to December 2016 from A$81 million a year ago, led by higher toll revenue and an uptick in traffic growth on its roads.

Revenues jumped 26 percent to A$1.3 billion while proportional earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation climbed 12.1 percent to A$817 million.

Transurban manages and develops urban toll road networks in Australia and the United States of America. Its target markets are the eastern seaboard of Australia and North America.

It has a A$9 billion project pipeline across Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and Greater Washington area, Transurban Chief Executive Officer Scott Charlton said in a statement.

Charlton added that the company's balance sheet was strong enough to fund its project pipeline, although there was potential for additional equity raising following the financial close of its Western Distributor project at the end of the year.

It upgraded its FY17 distribution guidance to 51.5 cents per share, a 13.2 percent increase from a year ago, due to strong traffic and operational performance. ($1 = 1.3053 Australian dollars)