27th Nov 2013 11:52
LONDON (Alliance News) - First Property Group PLC Wednesday reported a decrease in pretax profit for the first half, as the sale of a profitable office block in Warsaw flattered the year-earlier comparison.
The property fund management group posted pretax profit of GBP1.9 million for the period ended September 30, down from GBP2.2 million in 2012, while revenue fell to GBP4.3 million from GBP6.6 million in 2012.
The reduction in profit and revenue is largely attributable to the sale last year of an office block in Mokotow district of Warsaw for GBP2.3 million, which contributed an aggregate of GBP255,000 to profit before tax in the comparative period, earned from net rental income and the profit on its GBP2.3 million disposal.
Revenue from the fund management division, however, remained broadly flat at GBP2.0 million, resulting in profit before tax and unallocated central overhead costs for the division of GBP1.41 million compared with GBP1.46 million a year before.
First Property said this reduction in profit of this division is largely attributable to an increase in operating costs both in the UK and in Poland.
As at September 30, assets under management for the division were valued at GBP338 million, down from GBP347 million. Of these, 71% were located in Poland, 26% in the UK, and 3% in Romania.
The company's other division, directly owned property, saw revenue decline 50% to GBP2.3 million from GBP4.6 million, largely attribute to the Warsaw office block sale.
First Property's net asset value rose to GBP19.5 million, from GBP17.8 million a year earlier, but gross debt increased to GBP25.1 million during the period, from GBP23.8 million.
The investment company maintained the interim dividend of 0.33 pence per share.
First Property shares were down 2.0% at 25.00 pence per share mid-morning Wednesday.
By Anthony Tshibangu; [email protected]; @AnthonyAllNews
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