JOHANNESBURG, Feb 23 (Reuters) – South Africa’s biggest builder Wilson Bayly Holmes-Ovcon Ltd (WBHO) reported an 11 percent rise in first-half profit on Tuesday as a strong performance in Australia offset slow growth at home.
WBHO’s headline earnings per share – South Africa’s main profit gauge and excludes certain one-off and non-trading items – increased to 634 cents in the six months to the end of December compared from 570 cents a year earlier.
South Africa has delayed spending its nearly 1 trillion rand infrastructure investment package under its national development plan, a blueprint for growth drawn five years ago, as it struggles with job losses that has hit tax revenues and little headroom to take on more debt.
Shares in WBHO are up about 40 percent year-to-date, outperforming a 3.12 percent fall in the JSE’s All-share index.
