The sale of investment property and an increased portfolio value helped drive a strong rise in annual profits at Daejan Holdings. According to its preliminary results for year ended March 31st, pre-tax earnings jumped from £111.68m to £164.51m on almost flat rental income of £112.20m (2013: £111.04m). Profit from the disposal of investment property climbed from £6.6m to £11.3m, while the net valuation gains on the portfolio climbed from £82.69m to £119.65m following its revaluation at the year-end.Earnings for the year were also lifted by a small net financing income of £0.67m, compared to expenses of £10.71m in 2013. Property operating expenses were marginally higher at £68.79m, up from £67.02m the prior year. Daejan has recommended a final dividend of 47p a share, giving a total payment of 82p, up from 79p the previous year. Shares had climbed 1.04% to 4,856.10p by 11:58. NR