Johannesburg, Jan 23 Reuters South African retailer Woolworths expects its halfyear profit to fall by as much as 10 due to consumers pulling back on spending on clothes and as the country39;s energy and logistics crisis persisted.

The food, fashion and beauty retailer, which targets the mid to upperincome segment of the country, said its headline earnings per share HEPS from continuing operations likely fell 5 to 10 in the 26 weeks ended Dec. 24.

Group turnover and concession sales from continuing operations, excluding retailer David Jones which it sold last year, rose 5.4 and by 4.4 in constant currency terms. That was lower than the 12.5 reported in prior period.

Woolworths said performance for the current period has been effected by an increasingly challenging macroeconomic backdrop, given the sustained impact of interest rate increases and higher living costs.

This has negatively impacted footfall, resulting in a greaterthanexpected pullback in discretionary spend, the retailer said.

Operations were further disrupted by a higher number of power cuts, port congestion and the impact of Avian flu on the availability of staple food product lines such as eggs.

During the last six weeks of the period, which included trade during the festive season, sales growth accelerated to 7.2, supported by Black Friday promotions and holiday season trade, Woolworths said.

Its food business grew turnover by 8.4, while sales at its fashion beauty and home business grew by 2.2 and…