circle property plc reported on wednesday a swing to pretax loss for the first half of fiscal 2023 after booking higher loss related with its divestment strategy and that it will return capital to shareholders the office investment and development company said its pretax loss for for the six months ended sept 30 was 19 million pounds 23 million compared with a pretax profit of gbp590674 the same period a year ago the company reported an operating loss after revaluation of investment properties of gbp15 million compared with an operating profit of gbp13 million a year earlier circle said that it will make its first capital return to shareholders in the first quarter of 2023 following the asset disposals strategy around 60 of its property portfolio by value has been already disposed the more challenging macroeconomic backdrop impacted the broader property investment market after the period this has meant our rate of sales has slowed in recent months from the expedited rate achieved earlier in the year and pricing has also been softer nevertheless we are still able to divest assets successfully and remain steadfast in generating the best value possible for shareholders it said