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Johannesburg - South African retailer Woolworths Holdings [JSE:WHL] reported a 35% rise in first-half profit on Thursday, helped by favourable swings in currencies and robust spending over the Christmas period.
Woolworths, which sells clothing and high end food, said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 135.5 cents in the six months to end-December compared with 100.6c a year earlier.
Woolworths, similar in style and products to Britain’s Marks and Spencer Group, said sales rose 11.1% to R14.2bn.
The company said trading in the first six weeks of the second half suggested it was likely to post a similar rate of growth through the end of June.
Consumer spending is improving in South Africa thanks to decades-low interest rates and above-inflation wage increases, but the outlook is uncertain due to high personal debt levels and chronic unemployment.
South African retail sales jumped 8.7% year-on-year in December, from an upwardly revised 7.2% growth in November and beating a 6.5% slowdown economists had expected.
Shares in the company, which also operates in Australia through its unit Country Road Holdings, fell 1.55%, paring this year’s gains to 7.2%.
Woolworths, which sells clothing and high end food, said diluted headline earnings per share totalled 135.5 cents in the six months to end-December compared with 100.6c a year earlier.
Woolworths, similar in style and products to Britain’s Marks and Spencer Group, said sales rose 11.1% to R14.2bn.
The company said trading in the first six weeks of the second half suggested it was likely to post a similar rate of growth through the end of June.
Consumer spending is improving in South Africa thanks to decades-low interest rates and above-inflation wage increases, but the outlook is uncertain due to high personal debt levels and chronic unemployment.
South African retail sales jumped 8.7% year-on-year in December, from an upwardly revised 7.2% growth in November and beating a 6.5% slowdown economists had expected.
Shares in the company, which also operates in Australia through its unit Country Road Holdings, fell 1.55%, paring this year’s gains to 7.2%.
