RPT-Australia's Westpac H1 cash profit down 6 pct

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SYDNEY, May 6 (Reuters) - Westpac Banking Corp (WBC.AX), Australia's second-largest bank, posted a 6 percent fall in half-year cash profit on a pro-forma basis, hurt by higher impairments in a challenging operating environment.

Westpac's pro-forma cash profit consolidates its recently acquired St George banking unit into the group's current and year-ago reporting periods. On that basis, Westpac earned A$2.295 billion ($1.7 billion) for the six months to March 31, down from A$2.442 billion in the same period a year earlier. (Reporting by Mette Fraende; Editing by Muralikumar Anantharaman) ($1=1.351 Australian Dollar)