** Shares of South Port New Zealand SPN.NZ rise 2.4% to NZ$9.11, set for their best say since January 23
** Commercial port logs half-year net profit after tax of NZ$8.45 million ($5.10 million), up 46.8% on pcp
** Says result driven by higher cargo volumes and smelter recovery
** Declares interim dividend of 8.5 NZ cents per share
** Shares up 10% YTD
($1 = 1.6576 New Zealand dollars)
(Reporting by Shruti Agarwal in Bengaluru)
((Shruti.Agarwal@thomsonreuters.com))