Mr Price reports 22 percent rise in first-half earnings

South African discount retailer Mr Price on Tuesday posted interim earnings growth of 22 percent because of sales growth and said it plans to open over 40 stores in the second half of the year.

One of Mr Price outlets

   Mr Price, South Africa's third-largest clothes retailer by value, said diluted headline earnings per share rose to 283.6 cents for the six months to end September from 232.5 cents last year.
   Headline earnings are the main profit gauge in South Africa and exclude certain one-off and non-trading items.
   The company's total revenue, which includes retail sales and other income, rose 14.8 percent to 7.2 billion rand ($694 million).
   Mr Price said it plans to open 43 stores in the second half of the year after opening 12 stores in the first six months. Two of its recently opened stores were in Nigeria, where upmarket South African retailer Woolworths <WHLJ.J> is pulling out.
   The firm's shares were up over 2 percent at 150.24 rand at 1230 GMT, outperforming the Top 40 index which was 0.35 percent lower.