• First-half pre-tax profit up 28 per cent to £1.5mn
• Net debt almost halved to £10.1mn
• NAV up 6.6 per cent to £56.5mn (38.1p)
• £4.1mn disposals after period end realise profit of £1.2mn
• 59 per cent share price discount to NAV
European property investor and fund manager First Property (FPO:15.75p) continues to navigate challenging commercial property markets and is exploiting short-term trading opportunities, too.
The sharp reduction in debt relates to an office building in Gdynia, Poland, which operated on a break-even basis and was placed into administration after First Property failed to agree restructuring terms with the lender on a £10mn non-recourse, non-interest-bearing loan. It had no impact on the group’s financial position as First Property held no equity in the property.