Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin said:
KUALA LUMPUR: EcoWorld Development Group Bhd posted a set of strong financial results for the financial year ended Oct 31, 2017, with earnings at RM209.65mil as it succeeded in achieving its sales target of RM4bil from its Malaysian projects in FY2017.
The property developer announced on Friday the earnings up 62% from RM129.28mil in the previous corresponding financial year. Its revenue increased by 14.8% to RM2.92bil from RM2.54bil a year ago.
Commenting on the financial results, it said that together with the RM2bil sales recorded by EcoWorld International, sales achieved in FY2017 by its subsidiaries and joint-ventures totalled RM6bil.
The chairman of EcoWorld Malaysia and executive vice chairman of EcoWorld International Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin said: “This marks the third consecutive year in which combined EcoWorld Brand sales have exceeded the RM6bil mark.”
Liew said against the continued challenging market circumstances not just in Malaysia but also the United Kingdom and Australia, it is a tremendous feat achieved by the outstanding teams at both EcoWorld Malaysia and EcoWorld International.
“Excellence, tenacity and consistency are qualities we strive to inculcate in all our staff – the stellar results achieved is the best reward for the extensive investments we have made to develop their potential,” he said.
President & CEO of EcoWorld Malaysia Datuk Chang Khim Wah said the group achieved RM1.83bil sales in its final quarter which is around 46% of its full year target.
The strong sales, he said, were due to the resounding success of the EcoWorld Design-Nature-Art (DNA) campaign involving the concurrent launch of five of the group’s projects in the Klang Valley and Penang at the end of September 2017.
“Collectively these five contributed approximately RM1bil sales to the group in the final quarter of FY2017 with the balance of around RM800mil contributed by the Group’s other ongoing projects in the Klang Valley, Iskandar Malaysia and Penang,” Chang said.
On the external front, president & CEO of EcoWorld International Datuk Teow Leong Seng said sales in the UK have been steady with continuing interest in all three ongoing projects despite Brexit uncertainties.
Teow also highlighted that since the completion of the group’s initial public offering in April 2017, EcoWorld International has announced three new corporate deals.
“This will potentially boost the group’s project pipeline from only four projects at listing to 18 projects in total upon completion of all three deals thereby significantly improving its earnings visibility going forward,” he said.
In the notes to the financial results, it said that in Malaysia, the group achieved RM1.83bil sales in its final quarter which is around 46% of its full year target.
The strong result is largely attributable to the resounding success of the EcoWorld DNA campaign. This year’s campaign involved the concurrent launch of five projects.
Three of the projects are maiden launches – namely Eco Horizon in Penang; Eco Forest in Southern Klang Valley and Eco Business Park V in Northern Klang Valley, while the other two are new phases within the Group’s existing townships namely Dremien@Eco Ardence in Shah Alam and Whitten@Eco Majestic City in Semenyih.
For the fourth quarter, its earnings rose 14.8% to RM33.71mil from RM29.35mil a year ago. Revenue increased at a faster pace of 21.4% to RM899.01mil from RM740.98mil. Earnings per share were 1.14 sen compared with 1.21 sen.
EcoWorld said the projects which contributed to revenue and gross profit in 4Q of 2017 include Eco Majestic, Eco Sanctuary and Eco Sky in the Klang Valley, Eco Botanic, Eco Spring, Eco Summer, Eco Business Park 1, Eco Tropics and Eco Business Park III in Iskandar Malaysia as well as Eco Meadows and Eco Terraces in Penang. These projects were also the main contributors in 4Q 2016.
“The higher revenue in 4Q 2017 compared to 4Q 2016 is due to a higher percentage and relatively more advanced stage of completion achieved by the above projects in the current as compared to preceding year quarter.
The group’s profit before taxation (PBT) of RM57.6mil for 4Q 2017 is higher than the RM43.4mil reported for 4Q 2016. This was mainly contributed by the higher revenue mentioned above and lower selling and marketing expenses,” it said.
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