Kakuzi first half pretax profit falls 16 pct on poor fruit harvest

Kenyan agricultural firm Kakuzi Limited said on Tuesday its first half pretax profit fell 16 percent to 63.8 million shillings ($632,623) after drought hurt its avocado harvest.

The company - which also grows tea, macadamia nuts and pineapples and rears livestock - also said in a statement that its total sales fell to 420.2 million shillings from 447.6 million shillings.

Earnings per share were down to 2.22 shillings from 2.50 shillings in first half of 2014, Kakuzi said. It recommended that no interim dividend be paid, the same as last year.