EU may tell Deutsche Post to repay more state aid

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EU commission says further payment may be necessary

* Deutsche Post says Commission's stance "incomprehensible"

* Shares up 0.8 pct, in line with market (Adds Deutsche Post comment, share price)

BRUSSELS/DUESSELDORF, Germany, June 6 (Reuters) - Deutsche Post DHL could face further European Union demands for repayment of state aid as a lengthy legal battle between the EU and Berlin rumbles on.

"So far, no agreement could be reached on a final level of repayment," a spokesman for the European Commission, the executive arm of the EU, said in e-mailed comments on Wednesday.

"So another demand could be necessary," he said , confirming an earlier report in German daily Frankfurt Allgemeine Zeitung.

The statement comes as a surprise as investors had expected the issue of state aid to be resolved after Deutsche Post said last week it would repay some aid to the German government.

Since Deutsche Post's privatisation in the 1990s, European regulators have waged legal battles with the German government over whether Europe's biggest mail and express delivery company got preferential treatment compared with competitors.

Earlier this year, the European Commission said Deutsche Post would have to repay between 500 million euros ($623.20 million)and 1 billion euros in aid that it found breached state aid rules. [I D :nL5E8CP1XF]

But Berlin, which has jointly with Deutsche Post appealed the Commission's decision, set the amount to be repaid at only 298 million euros.

A spokesman for Deutsche Post said it was now up to the Commission and the government - which still owns almost a third of Deutsche Post via state development bank KfW - to discuss whether the company would have to pay back more money.

He said Deutsche Post still saw the Commission's stance as "incomprehensible".

Analysts had said resolving the issue of state aid - as well as the payment of half a billion euros worth of back taxes announced on Tuesday - would improve visibility for investors in Deutsche Post.

The company's stock trades at a discount to overseas peers such as United Parcel Service and FedEx, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine, as investors have shied away from the looming risk of further regulatory demands.

Shares of Deutsche Post, which were up 0.8 percent at 12.87 euros by 1319 GMT, in line with the broader market, have advanced by 7.5 percent so far this year. ($1 = 0.8023 euros)