[2008-09-18]  Investec Expects First-Half Operating Profit to Match Year Ago
Investec, the South African investment bank and money manager with units in Australia and the U.K., expects first-half operating profit to match that achieved a year earlier.

``The group expects to report normalized operating profit in line with the prior year,'' the Johannesburg-based company said in a statement to the city's stock exchange today. ``The South African and U.K. operations recording an increase and the Australian operations a decline in operating profit.''

Investec, whose shares trade in Johannesburg and London, is updating investors on its performance in the five months through Aug. 31, before entering a so-called closed period that bars companies from discussing earnings.

Investec has dropped 25 percent this year in Johannesburg trading, cutting the company's value to 32.5 billion rand ($3.95 billion). That compares with the 40 percent slide in the 429- member Bloomberg World Europe Financial Index.


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