* H1 NPAT A$94 mln vs analysts A$86 mln
* Raises FY NPAT forecast from A$180 mln to A$190 mln
* Asia Pacific sales up 69 pct (Recasts throughout, updates shares, adds CEO, analyst quotes)
By Byron Kaye
SYDNEY, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Australia's Cochlear Ltd COH.AX , the world No.1 hearing implants maker, issued an earnings upgrade on Thursday, sending its shares to a record high, as new offerings and rising demand from China pushed first half profit above analyst forecasts.
The Sydney-listed maker of two-thirds of all hearing implants sold globally posted a A$94 million ($67 million) net profit for the six months to Dec. 31, up 32 percent and better than analyst forecasts of about A$86 million, and raised its full-year forecast from A$180 million to A$190 million.
Cochlear shares leapt 14.4 percent, smashing through the A$100 barrier for the first time to reach a high of A$104.53 by late afternoon. The stock is up around 9 percent so far this year, while the broader market .AXJO is down 9 percent.
The result vindicates the company's investment in R&D for new product offerings, of which it launched several in 2015. It also spells a return to form for a perennial market darling which has since 2011 been punished by investors for missing forecasts and a product recall.
It also marks a deepening of the company's exposure in China, where it reported an increase in sales to non-government consumers, ending uncertainty about whether it can grow sales in the world's biggest economy once a government contract runs out.
"If you took the China tender business out, the business from the private pay would have still been up 35, 40 percent," said Cochlear Chief Executive Officer Chris Smith in a telephone interview, referring to the shift from Chinese government to private sales.
Sales to the Asia Pacific leapt 69 percent, partly helped by the sale of 1,700 of the company's units to the Chinese government during the six-month period, from none the previous first half.
Cochlear said in a statement it would sell a further 2,400 hearing aids to China in the remainder of fiscal 2016 and 2017. Beyond that, the Chinese government is expected to allow individual provinces to run their own separate tenders for hearing implants.
"I don't think we'll see any impact in the short term, but in the long term, over a 20-year period, that could be a significant contributor to revenue," said Morningstar analyst Chris Kallos, referring to private sales in China.
Sales in Cochlear's biggest market, the United States, jumped 35 percent, helped by a weakening Australian dollar, and in Europe, its second biggest, rose 16 percent.
The company declared a A$1.10 interim dividend, up from 90 Australian cents.
($1 = 1.4075 Australian dollars)