JOHANNESBURG, May 20 (Reuters) - South African industrial brand management group Barloworld said on Tuesday a strong rand and the adoption of a new accounting method hit earnings for the first half of the financial year as it had warned.
Barloworld said headline earnings, which strip out exceptional items and their tax effects, dropped to 211 cents a share in the six months to March, 2003, from 270 cents in the same period last year.
The group, which warned in April its headline earnings for the period would be lower than the previous year, said it looked forward to reporting better earnings in the second half, subject to a degree of exchange rate stability.