Australia's Wesfarmers H1 profit up 46 pct

Wesfarmers, which last month launched a heavily-discounted share sale which raised around A$2.9 billion ($1.9 billion) to reduce debt, said its net profit after items rose to A$879 million in the July-December period from A$601 million a year earlier.

Writedowns totalled A$125 million.

Wesfarmers had said on Jan. 14 it expected net profit of A$850-A$880 million for the half, after A$150 million in pre-tax provisions and writedowns. It also warned it will cut its annual dividend by at least 50 percent, to a maximum A$1 a share, as it tries to conserve cash.

It announced an interim dividend of 50 cents and said the final dividend would be no more than 50 cents.

Wesfarmers bought the Coles supermarket chain, Target, Kmart and Officeworks for A$19 billion at the top of the market in 2007, before the credit crunch hit. ($1=A$1.53) (Reporting by Miranda Maxwell)