Capital equipment distributor Barloworld on Tuesday said that its headline earnings a share from continuing operations for the six months ended March 31, 2009, would be between 40% and 50% lower than the year before.

Basic earnings a share and headline earnings a share for the six months would be down by between 60% and 70% compared with the year before, mainly as a result of the lower headline earnings from continuing operations.

The previous year’s discontinued operations had also included a R332-million gain on the disposal of its laboratory business.

The group noted in a statement that trading in equipment in Southern Africa during the six months had continued to be strong, while the automotive division had performed well in difficult markets.

However, challenging trading conditions had prevailed in its international operations, where restructuring charges of R114-million had been incurred.

Negative financial instrument adjustments and higher net finance costs had also impacted the group’s profits in the first half of 2009.

Barloworld would publish its results on May 11.

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