By Chris Dorrell Investec delivered an upbeat trading update for the first half, with profit on track to increase compared to last year despite challenges in the UK. The bank expects adjusted operating pretax profit in the six months to September to be between £450m and £482m, up from £441m in the same period last year. Headline earnings per share could be anywhere from 1.4 per cent below last year’s 36.9p to 3.5 per cent ahead. This includes the costs of “executing strategic actions”. Investec said revenue had been boosted by growth in lending as well as the impact of higher interest rates. T…