JOHANNESBURG — South African industrial group Barloworld boosted first-half profit by a third on Monday, as a solid result in its Russian mining equipment business offset slack demand at home.
Barloworld, which also sells cars and forklifts, said headline earnings per share totaled 321 cents in the six months to end-March compared with 245 cents a year earlier.
Headline EPS, the primary measure of profit in South Africa, strips out certain one-off items.
Barloworld, the biggest dealer of Caterpillar earth-moving equipment in southern Africa, is a barometer for the health of the region's vast mining industry.
Mining companies in South Africa have been forced to scale back capital expenditure due to faltering commodity prices and wildcat strikes.
Barloworld said revenue rose by 11 percent to 31.3 billion rand ($3.34 billion), helped also by strong sales of Bucyrus heavy-duty equipment.
(Reuters)
