EcoWorld Malaysia achieves sales of RM2.4bil in seven months

KUALA LUMPUR: Eco World Development Group Bhd (EcoWorld Malaysia) achieved sales of RM2.4bil in the first seven months of its 2023 financial year, which represents 68.5% of its sales target.

The property developer said the sales increased its future revenue to RM4.29bil as at May 31, 2023, which provides clear earnings and cash flow visibility.

For the second quarter of the financial year ended April 30, 2023, EcoWorld's net profit came to RM62.69mil as compared to RM45.67mil in the prevoius corresponding quarter, representing an earnings per share of 2.13 sen.

The group reported revenue of RM420.82mil, which was down from RM506.89mil in the same quarter in 2022.

In line with the performance, the board of directors declared an interim dividend of two sen per share, payable on July 20, 2023.

EcoWorld said its Malaysian joint ventures contributed profit of RM24.1mil in 2QFY24, which was 47.4% higher than in the same quarter in 2022.

Meanwhile, EcoWorld International contributed RM300,000 in 2QFY23, compared to a loss of RM15.6mil in 2QFY22 due to higher foreign exchange gain, higher interest income following repayments from its UK joint ventures and lower finance costs during the quarter.

By segment, sales of the group's Eco Business Parks (EBP) charted a new record with year-to-date sales of RM838mil, exceeding the full-year EBP sales of the previous year.

Residential homes sales meanwhile exceeded RM1.22bil as at May 31, 2023, representing 51% of the group's total sales so far in FY23.

"The largest contributors in the first half of FY23 have been higher-priced upgrader homes with very good take-ups observed for all our new launches in the Klang Valley, Iskandar Malaysia and Penang that were tailored to appeal to this segment of the market," said EcoWorld Malaysia president and CEO of Datuk Chang Khim Wah in a statement.

In the commercial products segment, the group said year-to-date sales hit RM341mil with good take-up for new launches and continuing sales of various retail, shop and office units at the group’s matured Klang Valley and Iskandar Malaysia townships.

Moving forward, Chang said the group will be launching several of its duduk brand of apartments to meet the needs of first-time homeowners and those seeking to own homes at a more attainable price point.

"Registrations for upcoming launches of other new duduk apartments planned for the rest of 2023 have been very encouraging.

"We look forward to bringing this very popular product to customers at our other matured townships in the Klang Valley, Iskandar Malaysia and Penang," he added.

As at April 30, 2023, EcoWorld said its gross and net gearing levels stood at 0.53 and 0.31 times, respectively.