SOUTH African financial services group FirstRands headline earnings per share for the six months to December 31 rose to 30.9 cents from 24.5 cents, just short of expectations. It said its interim headline earnings rose to R1.685bn from R1.336bn due to the positive impact of restructuring. The bank said its cost-to-income ratio for the period under review had fallen to 58.9% from 60.0%. Its interim dividend climbed to 11.25 cents from 9.0 cents. While coy on its overall outlook, it said it expected its banking operations to see 25% growth for the full year. – Reuters