AIM-listed First Property Group on Thursday reported pre-tax profit for the six months to end-September were up 167% at £1.6 mln (EUR 2.22 mln), as diluted earning per share grew by 174% to 96p. The company said it would pay its first dividend, set at 0.15 pence per share. Revenues from asset management were up 150% at £1 mln, and First properties Services generated a pre-tax profit of £ 345,000, up from £79,000 in the year earlier period.
AIM-listed First Property Group on Thursday reported pre-tax profit for the six months to end-September were up 167% at £1.6 mln (EUR 2.22 mln), as diluted earning per share grew by 174% to 96p. The company said it would pay its first dividend, set at 0.15 pence per share. Revenues from asset management were up 150% at £1 mln, and First properties Services generated a pre-tax profit of £ 345,000, up from £79,000 in the year earlier period.
Net assets under management rose by 167% to £240 mln compared to £90 mln last year. Of the current total, approximately 85% by number and value are located in Poland, 9% in Romania and only 6% in the UK.
'Our experience of the Central and Eastern European property markets continues to bear out our expectations of the region. We are able to purchase prime property on yields of some 6% to 7%, which are significantly higher than the prevailing Euro interest rates of 4.5%, with very real prospects for rental growth,' the company said.
'Equally pertinently, the recent credit market turmoil has not noticeably affected our chosen markets of Poland and Romania. Indeed, the Polish Zloty has gone from strength to strength over the last three months, which is in stark contrast to the weakening of both the US Dollar and Sterling against the Euro.