town centre securities plc said thursday that it swung to a pretax loss in the first half of fiscal 2023 driven by property valuation falls the property investment company reported a pretax loss of 191 million pounds 226 million for the six months ended dec 31 from a profit of gbp105 million for the same period a year ago this reflects a swing to a gbp142 million loss on investment property valuations from a gbp64 million benefit a year before on a likeforlike basis the portfolio valuation declined 7 from the end of fiscal 2022 primarily due to real estate investor and market sentiment around the macroeconomic outlook gross revenue rose to gbp143 million from gbp129 million the company said however its resilient performance from the first half has continued in the opening months of 2023 and that it is looking for acquisition opportunities the board maintained its interim dividend of 25 pence a share which it said reflects relative stability in underlying earnings excluding the valuation reduction with low levels of bank debt and reduced loan to value i am confident that we are in a strong position to face up to the challenges that may present themselves chairman and chief executive edward ziff said