May 9 (Reuters) - Australia's GrainCorp Ltd GNC.AX on Thursday reported a loss for the first half of the year, as a severe drought across the country's east coast hit production.
The country's largest-listed bulk grain handler, which had warned of an earnings hit last month, said underlying net loss after tax for the six months ended March 31 came in at A$48 million ($33.56 million), compared to the A$36.1 million profit it reported last year.
Revenue for the period rose 25.5 percent to A$2.49 billion from A$1.99 billion last year.
($1 = 1.4304 Australian dollars)