Wesfarmers Second-Half Profit Rises 61% on Coal Unit, Rail Sale
Tuesday, August 15th 2006
Wesfarmers Ltd., whose businesses range from hardware to mining and insurance, increased second-half profit 61 percent on higher coal earnings and a one-time gain from selling its rail unit.
Net income rose to A$601 million ($456 million) in the six months ended June 30 from A$373.9 million a year earlier. Second- half profit was calculated by subtracting first-half earnings from Perth-based Wesfarmers annual result of A$1.05 billion.
Excluding the A$178.7 million profit from selling the rail division, annual earnings rose 24 percent to A$869.4 million.
Earnings before items were expected to rise to A$899.9 million for the full-year, according to the median estimate of 10 analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial.
