** Shares of Australia's BlueScope Steel BSL.AX rise as much as 9.7% to A$24.510, their biggest intraday gain since Oct 2020

** Stock at its highest level since September 2021

** The steel maker reports HY underlying NPAT of A$176 mln($111.76 mln) vs Visible Alpha (VA) consensus of A$171 mln

** Adds HY underlying EBIT of A$309 mln vs VA consensus of A$295 mln

** Co declares interim dividend of 30 Australian cents per share as compared to 25 Au cents apiece in the PCP

** 1HFY25 result was a small beat driven by a strong Australian steel products' result - UBS analysts said in a note

** Stock has risen 31.1% this year so far

($1 = 1.5748 Australian dollars)

(Reporting by Roshan Thomas in Bengaluru)

((Roshan.Thomas@thomsonreuters.com))