Interserve confident of growth after H1 profit rises 12 pct

LONDON, Aug 12 (Reuters) - British support services and construction firm Interserve (LSE: IRV.L - news) posted a 12 percent rise in half-year profit and said it was confident of future growth as demand in its main markets continued to strengthen.

The company identified the recently announced higher minimum wage in Britain as a headwind, however.

From 2016, it said it would impact margins in its support services business, whose activities include providing care for people in their own homes, by about 10 million pounds ($15.6 million) to 15 million pounds and then recede over the following years as it was priced in to contracts.

Interserve reported headline total operating profit of 60.3 million pounds in the six months ended June 30. Analysts expect the company to post annual operating profit of 130 million pounds according to Thomson Reuters data.

($1 = 0.6419 pounds) (Reporting by Sarah Young, Editing by Paul Sandle)