JOHANNESBURG (Reuters) - South Africa's second-biggest private hospital operator Netcare posted a 19.6 percent rise in half-year profit on Monday, helped by strong demand at its home market and favourable currency swings. Netcare, which also runs Britain' largest private hospital network, BMI Healthcare, said adjusted headline earnings per share totalled 91 cents in the six months to the end of March compared with 76 cents a year earlier. Headline EPS, the main profit gauge in South Africa, strips out certain one-off items. Sales grew about 6 percent to 16.3 billion rand ($1.38 billion), currency conversion adding 268 million rand. The rand was nearly 4 percent weaker than at the same time a year ago. While demand for private healthcare is increasing in South Africa thanks to a fast-growing middle class, tentative economic growth in the United Kingdom has led to a drop in the number of Britons with private medical insurance. Shares in Netcare, which are up about 6 percent so far this year, rose 2.45 percent to 40.10 rand by 0703 GMT, outpacing a 0.6 percent gain the JSE Top-40 index. ($1 = 11.8150 rand)