Woolworths Holdings reported a 75.1% jump in mid-year earnings but warned of a slower growth second half impacted by the country's power crisis. Brick-and-mortar sales increased substantially in the first half ended Dec. 25, as shoppers, particularly in Australia, returned after prolonged pandemic lockdowns. Woolworths, which also operates the Country Road and Group turnover and concession sales increased by 18.5% to 49.9bn rand ($2.73bn), while profit before tax jumped 63.3% to 3.7bn rand. In South Africa, which houses Woolworths' upmarket grocery, fashion, beauty and home businesses, the retailer grappled with crippling rolling power outages which have reduced its domestic adjusted operating profit by an estimated ZAR15mn (US$0.8mn) per month.