* Proposes div of 0.14 eur/shr for 2015
* 2015 EBIT at 34.3 mln eur, beating TR estimate
* Made 87 percent of sales abroad in 2015 (Recasts, adds CEO quote, context)
FRANKFURT, March 30 (Reuters) - SMA Solar S92G.DE , Germany's largest solar group, on Wednesday surprised markets by proposing a dividend for 2015, the first in three years, after strong demand in foreign markets and cost cuts helped it back to profit faster than expected.
The group swung to earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) of 34.3 million euros ($38.8 million) in 2015, up from a year-earlier loss of 165 million and beating the 30.7 million Thomson Reuters consensus.
Sales grew by nearly a quarter to about 1 billion euros, also topping the average 981 million euro forecast, boosted by demand in North America, Britain, Japan and Australia, its most important foreign markets.
"At the start of the year, nearly no one expected sales of around 1 billion euros, a positive annual net income and even a dividend," Chief Executive Pierre-Pascal Urbon said in a letter to shareholders.
SMA said it would propose a dividend of 0.14 euros per share for 2015, which would be the first time it distributes a payout to shareholders since 2012's dividend of 0.60 euros apiece.
The group has strongly reduced its dependence on home market Germany, where falling subsidies for solar power have also reduced demand for SMA's inverters, and made about 87 percent of its sales abroad last year, up from 56 percent in 2012.
($1 = 0.8853 euros)