First Property Share News (FPO)

The sale of six properties and gains from asset appreciation strongly boosted First Property Group's pre-tax profit in the first half of 2014, although the AIM-listed company said opportunities in the UK were becoming less plentiful.The firm said that its pre-tax profit for the six months to the end of September rose from £1.9m to £5.4m, largely thanks to performance fees earned from its fund management business.Two separate investments, carried out in the second half of 2013, boosted pre-tax profit by an additional £585,000, the group said, adding it had made £1.3m profit on the acquisition and refinancing of three properties in Romania."Our balance sheet is strong, the visibility of our earnings into 2015 and beyond is continually improving and I look to the future with confidence," said Ben Habib, the group chief executive.On the outlook for commercial property Fprop said the rate of GDP growth in the UK "would appear to be moderating but it is still growing faster than most of Europe and at a faster rate than was expected a year ago", with growth for 2014 expected to be around 3%, dropping to 2.7% in 2015.Habib added that the the opportunities available to the UK-focused Fprop PDR fund, one of 10 funds the company manages, "are not as plentiful as they were last and earlier this year but we expect it to continue to earn trading profits from its activities".The firm lifted its interim dividend by 6.1% to 0.35p per share.First Property shares soared 10.6% to 30.00p at 11:55 on Wednesday.