PARIS (Reuters) - French manufacturing group Alstom (>> Alstom), which has agreed to merge its rail operations with Germany's Siemens (>> Siemens), reported a surge in first-half net profit and kept its 2020 financial targets.

Interim net profit at Alstom, which makes trains and other transport and infrastructure products, rose 66.4 percent from a year ago to 213 million euros (189.73 million pounds), with turnover progressing 5 percent from last year.

Alstom, in which French conglomerate Bouygues (>> Bouygues) owns a stake, maintained its 2020 targets. These goals include sales growing organically by 5 percent per year by 2020, and for Alstom to have an adjusted EBIT (earnings before interest and tax) margin of around 7 percent by 2020.

In September, Siemens and Alstom agreed to merge their rail operations, creating a European champion to better withstand the international advance of China's state-owned CRRC Corp Ltd (>> CRRC Corp Ltd).

(Reporting by Sudip Kar-Gupta; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)

Stocks treated in this article : Alstom, Bouygues, Siemens, CRRC Corp Ltd