South Africa's Woolworths expects fall in H1 profit

JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's upmarket retailer Woolworths Holdings expects first-half profit to be between 2.5 percent to 7.5 percent lower, the company said in a trading update on Thursday. * Woolworths, which sells products similar to those ofBritain's Marks and Spencer, sees headline earnings per share(HEPS) between 234.5 to 247.2 cents for the 26-week period ended25 December 2016. * HEPS is the main profit measure used in South Africa thatstrips out certain one-off times. * Adjusted diluted headline earnings per share (adHEPS) forthe period are expected to be between 0 and 5 percent lower at238.3 to 250.8 cents. * The retailer, which also sells food, reported a 6.7percent rise in group sales for the first-half of the 2017financial year. * Sales at department store chain David Jones and CountryRoad Group were negatively impacted by the timing of the publicholiday of Boxing Day and last year's termination of the DickSmith electronics concession, Woolworths said in a statement. (Reporting by Tanisha Heiberg; Editing by Vyas Mohan)