The welding and gas products supplier said its headline earnings per share, the main profit gauge in South Africa, fell to 76.5 cents, or 31.3%, for the six months ended June 30, compared with 111.3 cents during the same period a year earlier.
Revenue during the period fell to 2.694 billion rand ($161 million) from 3.0 billion rand a year earlier.
Afrox said its healthcare business and recovery of cost inflation in its atmospheric gases and hard goods segments helped to offset lower sales volumes due to restrictions during the coronavirus lockdown that began in March.
"We achieved satisfactory revenue in our Medical Gases business despite non-critical operations being postponed at hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic leading to lower oxygen off-take," the company said in a statement.
Afrox, which operates in countries across Africa, supplies welding and gas products, including those used in the healthcare, mining and hospitality industries.
It said its cash balance of 1.167 billion rand places it in a strong position to take advantage of future opportunities.
The company declared an interim dividend of 38 cents per share compared with 55 cents a year earlier.
($1 = 16.7541 rand)
(Reporting by Tumelo Modiba; Editing by Tanisha Heiberg and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
