JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South African financial services group Alexander Forbes said on Monday its first-half profit barely grew after many of its clients were laid off and withdrew their retirement savings. Shares in Alexander Forbes fell to a record low after the firm reported a profit increase of 2 percent to 552 million rand ($38 million). Following the withdrawals of retirement savings, Alexander Forbes spent heavily to attract new clients and had to do without the tailwind of rising equity markets as the economy of Africa's most industrialised slowed, one analyst said. "The results were marginally below expectations and the market tends to be a bit harsh when companies don't meet expectations," PSG Wealth analyst Adrian Cloete said, referring to the firm's stock. Shares in Alexander Forbes briefly plummeted to 6.35 rand, its lowest level since listing, but recovered to 6.60 rand by 1256 GMT, down 13.2 percent. ($1 = 14.4297 rand) (Reporting by TJ Strydom; Editing by James Macharia)