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LONDON (Alliance News) - First Property Group PLC on Thursday reported a 10% drop in annual earnings due to departure of a major client.
The property fund manager and investor said pretax profit declined to GBP8.3 million in the year to the end of March from GBP9.2 million reported a year earlier, as revenue fell by 20% to GBP20.4 million from GBP25.5 million.
This reduction in revenue was mainly a result of the absence of EUR2.9 million income being earned from the company's investment in CH8, as in February last year, occupier Citi Group left the 10,000 square meters property.
First Property declared a final dividend of 1.22 pence a share, up 3.4% from 1.18p paid the year prior. Total dividend was increased by 3.8% to 1.66p from 1.60p year-on-year.
"The year just ended was another one of substantial operational and financial progress," said Chief Executive Ben Habib.
"Both our divisions are trading well. The markets in which we operate are generally buoyant and offering interesting investment opportunities on which we expect to continue to capitalise," added Habib.
First Property shares were trading 4.3% lower on Thursday at 48.81 pence each.
