INTERVIEW-Kety sees production pickup, debt target delayed

* Orders improving in all segments * Debt reduction target delayed, cash needed for production WARSAW, June 19 (Reuters) - Poland's biggest aluminium group Kety is seeing early signs of recovery in its main extruded products sector, forcing it to hoard more cash and slow its debt reduction plan, its chief executive told Reuters. Kety, whose production of aluminium products plunged at the turn of 2008 and 2009 due to the sharp economic slowdown in its main markets, had hoped to reduce its debt to below 300 million zlotys ($92.1 million) by the end of June. "We won't be able to move down with our debt because there are orders in the extruded products sector, so we need to freeze more cash in the product," Dariusz Manko said in an interview on Friday. "Production is taking off." Kety, whose shares have gained nearly 50 percent since plunging to a six-year low in October, has some 318 million zlotys in debt, Manko said. The debt is mainly foreign denominated and sensitive to currency swings. In the first quarter, Kety's bottom line was weighed by 15 million zlotys related to its debt. Manko said he still expected to bring it below 300 million by year-end. He also said both its net and operating profits in the second quarter would improve on the first three months. In the first quarter, net profit fell 84 percent to 2.8 million zlotys. "In each of our segments the situation is good, stable. In each we have orders and we hope this continues," Manko said. Kety, which exports nearly a third of its production, was also hit by the weaker Polish zloty.