* Swings to 1.4 million euro profit vs 272.4 million loss
* EBIT up 11 percent
* Cuts debt by selling FCC, SFL stakes to creditors
MADRID, May 15 (Reuters) - Spanish property firm Colonial said on Friday that it swung to a 1.4 million euros net profit in the first quarter from a 272.4 million loss a year ago.
Earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT), before provisions, rose 11.8 percent to 65.5 million euros, partly driven by a 30 percent rise in sales of developments and land.
The company, in which its creditor banks have taken a 24 percent stake in return for the cancellation of debt, said total revenues grew 16.7 percent to 138.4 million euros, with rental income up 8 percent, boosted by its business in France.
But it flagged the impact on office rentals of soaring unemployment and the economic slump in Spain which are causing certain projects to be delayed or put on hold.
Net debt dropped 26.8 percent to 6.57 billion euros at March 31, with about 780 million euros of debt shaved off in January by the sale of stakes in Spain's FCC and France's Societe Fonciere Lyonnaise.
The company granted the banks options on its 15 percent stake in FCC and 33 percent stake in SFL in November last year as part of its efforts to scale back a debt mountain accumulated in Spain's decade-long housing boom.
Colonial said it continued to talk to its creditor banks to progressively improve debt levels and strengthen its balance sheet.
The company did not provide any update on the value of its assets, saying that it would only do this twice a year to coincide with the first and second half audits, "in line with the practice in the sector".
Colonial posted losses of nearly 40 billion euros in 2008 after updating the value of its assets. (Reporting by Judy MacInnes; editing by Jon Loades-Carter)