Kenya's Home Afrika H1 pretax profit tumbles 72 pct on rising costs

NAIROBI (Reuters) - Kenyan property developer Home Afrika Ltd reported a 73 percent drop in first-half pretax profit to 68.2 million shillings ($771,493) after costs rose, it said on Thursday, sending its shares 3 percent lower. Home Afrika, which is listed on the Nairobi bourse's segment for small firms or GEMS, said in a statement that the second half of the year would see higher revenue and profitability due to new housing projects and steady economic growth in the country. The company said although revenue had increased, costs rose faster in the period to the end of June. In addition, the company's operating income, which comprises of fair value gains on investment property, also fell due to slow growth in property prices across the economy. Earnings per share fell to 0.08 shillings from 0.19 shillings in the year-ago period, the company said. Shares in Home Afrika were down 2.9 percent to 5 shillings by 1010 GMT. (1 US dollar = 88.4000 Kenyan shilling)