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UPDATE 1-Japan's Mazda to revise earnings forecasts

(Recasts, adds details, share price)

TOKYO, Oct 31 (Reuters) - Mazda Motor Corp , Japan's fifth-largest automaker, said on Thursday it would hold a news conference at 10:30 a.m. (0130 GMT) to announce a revision to its earnings forecast for the half year ended in September.

A spokesman for Mazda, one-third owned by Ford Motor Co , would not comment on whether the automaker would also be revising its forecast for the full year to next March.

Mazda rivals Toyota Motor Corp , Honda Motor Co Ltd and Nissan Motor Co Ltd have all unveiled record-setting first-half earnings results this month, and the news that Mazda would be revising its forecast helped send its shares up as much as 3.4 percent in early trade.

Company President Lewis Booth had already been set to hold a news conference at the automaker's home base of Hiroshima, western Japan, at 0130 GMT to explain progress in Mazda's mid-term "Millennium Plan" crafted in November 2000.

After spending much of the 1990s in the red, Mazda managed to return to profit last year with the help of Ford, which led it through six years of restructuring.

In the biggest turnaround in its 82-year history, Mazda in May reported group net profit of 8.83 billion yen ($71.82 million) for the year ended in March 2002, helped by cost cuts and a favourably weak yen, after the previous year's loss of 155.24 billion yen.

Mazda at that time forecast more good results for this business year, saying profit would grow 127 percent to 20 billion yen, but analysts have said the yen's recent strength would make it hard for the automaker to achieve the target.

Mazda has stepped up cost-cutting efforts. In May, it said it aimed to cut overall costs by 20 percent over the next two to three years, accelerating its original target of a 15 percent cost reduction over five years from November 2000.

Shares in Mazda were up 2.63 percent at 273 yen as of 0039 GMT, while the key Nikkei average was virtually unchanged. ($1=122.93 yen)