Russian rail group Transcontainer posted a 25 percent slide in first-half net profit to 2.1 billion roubles ($57 million), citing a worsening pricing environment in the container transportation market. The company, 50 percent owned by state monopoly Russian Railways, said its results were also hit by deconsolidation of Kazakh railside terminals operator KedenTransService after the sale of a 17 percent stake. "The pricing environment continued to be challenging amid increased competition in the market and uncertainty around the economy, resulting in a decrease in average transportation tariffs during the reporting period," Transcontainer said in a statement. Revenue at the company fell 3.5 percent to 17.5 billion roubles and its growth in transportation volumes was 2.2 percent, underperforming the 7 percent rise or the Russian container transportation market as a whole. Transcontainer, which has a 45.6 percent market share in Russia, confirmed guidance for middle single-digit growth for the rail container market in 2014 but said that increased competition would keep tariffs under pressure. (Reuters)