By Reuters Staff

       1 Min Read

       FILE PHOTO: A man walks past an outlet of retailer Woolworths in Cape Town, South Africa, June 19, 2017. REUTERS/Mike Hutchings

       JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African retailer Woolworths Holdings reported on Thursday a 212.5% jump in annual profit, as trade across the group continued to recover from the hard COVID-19 lockdown and resumed dividend payouts.

       Woolworths, which sells clothes, food and home wares said headline earnings per share (HEP), the main gauge of profit in South Africa, was 374.4 cents in the 52 weeks ended June 27, up from 119.8 cents in 2020. Meanwhile, adjusted diluted HEP, which strips out certain items, rose by 102.9%.

       Woolworths declared a final dividend of 66 cents per share, a 25.8% decrease on the prior year’s 89 cents.

       Reporting by Nqobile Dludla; Editing by Christian Schmollinger

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