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First Property Group PLC on Thursday said it swung to a profit in the first half of its current financial year, due to a growth in the value of an investee company. The property fund manager and investor in UK and Central Europe said pretax profit for the six months that ended September 30 was £1.2 million, from a loss of £652,000 the year before. This was largely due to a £940,000 increase in the value of the group’s associate investment in Fprop Phoenix Ltd, due to the profit it earned from trading properties. The group also received a £300,000 one-off advance payment of fund management fees from SIPS Property Nominee Ltd, from properties sold before the end of the fund’s life in January 2026. Revenue fell 2.5% to £3.9 million from £4.0 million last year, while cost of sales reduced by 22% to £1.4 million from £1.8 million. Chief Executive Officer Ben Habib said: ‘I am delighted to report our swing back into profit. Markets in the UK remain difficult, though there would appear to be a marginal improvement in certain sub-sectors of the property market. Poland is less liquid with access to debt for the purchase of properties remaining tight. ‘Institutions are nervous of property and it is likely that we shall therefore be trading property on a bespoke basis, rather than establishing blind pools of funds for thematic investment as we have done in the past.’ Shares in First Property were up 1.3% at 15.20 pence each in London on Thursday afternoon. Copyright 2024 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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