Palace Capital hikes dividend as H1 pre-tax profit falls

Property investment company Palace Capital has hiked its first-half dividend by almost a third as it posted a much-reduced pre-tax profit for the period.

Interim dividend was up 29% to 9p a share, from 7p. Pre-tax profit came in at £3.9m, from £7.6m. Net asset value per share was 419p, from 414p at the end of its full-year.

"Palace Capital continues to demonstrate both income and capital growth and we believe this sets us apart from our peers," said the AIM-quoted outfit's chair, Stanley Davis.

"We have not seen a negative impact from Brexit on our portfolio, which appears to be a London-focused issue, in fact we have seen increased activity in the towns and cities in which we operate," he added in a statement.

Davis said Palace Capital was making headway on several of its strategic assets and with its policy of sourcing opportunities both directly and corporately.

At about 12:51 GMT, shares in Palace Capital were up 0.69% to 362.5p each.