DUBAI, Aug 2 (Reuters) - Dubai business park operator TECOM Group reported a 13% increase in first-half profit on Wednesday, and proposed a 400 million dirham ($108.91 million) dividend payment to shareholders.

Net profit rose to 485 million dirhams in the first half, compared with the same period last year, TECOM said in a regulatory filing, driven by high occupancy rates and new customers.

The occupancy level for commercial and industrial assets was 87% as of June 30, a 5% increase from the year-earlier period.

Dubai, home to the world's tallest skyscraper and palm-shaped artificial islands, has become one of the world's fastest-growing cities, recording a population of 3.6 million as of July 5, according to the emirate's statistic centre.

Net profit for the second quarter eased to 229.4 million dirhams from 237.3 million a year earlier. Tecom said profit for the period rose 19% to 283 million dirhams, when the impact of a one-off expense related to settling an old loan facility was excluded.

The company said in June that it refinanced an existing loan on more favourable terms. The 5-year, 7.6 billion dirham unsecured loan facility replaced an existing partially utilised term loan. ($1 = 3.6726 UAE dirham) (Reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh; Editing by Subhranshu Sahu)