* Q2 operating margin 2.6 percent; creeps back above zero
* End-June order book dips to 2.52 bln euros
* HI net loss wider than expected on refinancing costs
* Shares up 9.5 percent
(Adds analyst comment, recasts, updates shares)
By Greg Roumeliotis
AMSTERDAM, Aug 21 (Reuters) - Under-pressure Dutch builder Heijmans pushed its operating margin back above zero in the first half of 2009 as restructuring efforts began to bear fruit, sending its shares sharply higher.
Heijmans said on Friday that earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation reached 5 million euros after being the red for all of 2008, when it sank to a full-year EBITDA loss of 41 million euros.
It sold only 600 homes in the first half of the year compared to 1,187 in the year-earlier period but said it had stemmed losses at its projects in the Netherlands and Belgium.
"The second quarter operational margin of 2.6 percent shows that the impact of the restructuring becomes visible and that the company has not incurred unexpected losses on projects like (it did) in the past," Petercam analyst Bart van der Wijngaard said.
Heijmans shares recouped initial falls to rise sharply, gaining 9.5 percent to 1.55 euros by 1412 GMT, outperforming a 2.5 percent higher Amsterdam midcap index.
Heijmans also proposed to shareholders a 10-for-1 reverse stock split, arguing that the higher market price would make the share more attractive to foreign investors looking to value it against other major international builders.
"They (also) said that some German investors asked them to do this," Van der Wijngaard added.
The company registered a net loss of 43 million euros ($61.2 million), twice as wide as expected, as financial expenses rose to 35 million euros from 5 million euros a year ago on refinancing costs and interest rate cash flow hedges.
Analysts had expected a 21 million euro loss on average, according to a Reuters poll.
"The housing market is locked down. This affects us directly. We will have to patiently await the recovery," said Heijmans Chief Executive Rob van Gelder in a statement.
First-half revenue was down by 234 million euros to 1.48 billion euros, meeting analysts' expectations, due to declines in its Dutch property unit and a selective contracting policy in non-residential building.
The order book at the end of June stood at 2.52 billion euros, down from 3 billion euros at the end of 2008 as the inflow of new projects slowed and the company became more selective in its bids.
Heijmans, which has the bulk of its business in the Netherlands, had said it would focus more on higher-yielding activities and that margins would take precedence over revenue growth.
REPAIRING FINANCES
Heijmans, whose shareholders include Aviva, Alliance Bernstein and Barclays Global Investors, has been restructuring since last year after losing money on projects it had priced too cheaply, and it closed a 101 million euro rights offering last month.
The builder, a rival to Dutch BAM, has renegotiated terms with its banks and is pressing ahead with efforts to sell its operations in Germany and Britain, as well as some of its undeveloped land, in a bid to improve its finances.
At end-June, its debt swelled to 470 million euros from 331 million at the end of December.
With Flemish government support, it managed to raise 180 million euros in project financing for its consortium that will build and operate the Brabo 1 tram in Antwerp, Belgium.
"Second half revenue should be better and so should the bottom line because we do not expect the same level of restructuring charges," said SNS Securities analyst Edwin de Jong.
The company said it would not issue any forecasts for 2009.
($1=.7028 Euro)
(Reporting by Greg Roumeliotis; editing by John Stonestreet)