PETALING JAYA: Eco World Development Group Bhd
is confident with its prospects moving forward, stating that it is well positioned to expand its landbank to broaden and deepen its market share and increase future pipelines of growth.
Its recent acquisitions include 240.3 acres of land adjacent to Eco Botanic and Eco Botanic 2 for the planned development of Eco Botanic 3 in Iskandar Malaysia; 8.9 acres situated next to its Eco Sanctuary township for the development of serviced apartments with a commercial component; and 847.2 acres of land in the Semenyih corridor located right beside Eco Forest for the planned development of Eco Forest 2.
It said the above acquisitions will strengthen its Eco Townships, Eco Rise and Eco Hubs pillars.
Announcing its results for the full year ended Oct 31 (FY24), Eco World saw net profit for the final quarter (4Q24) surge more than 25 times to RM83.4mil, despite revenue actually dropping 24.4% year-on-year (y-o-y) to RM638.5mil.
The group said the lower revenue was due to turnover from the sale of a 92-acre parcel of industrial land in Eco Business Park II having been included in 4Q23 upon its completion.
It attributed the significant rise in 4Q24 net profit compared to a year earlier to strong growth in net earnings from the group’s Malaysian operations of 31.5% in 4Q24 and lower impairment in the carrying values of its investment in Eco World International Bhd recognised in 4Q24 as compared to 4Q23.
For the full FY24, Eco World saw net profit also jump by 60.3% y-o-y to RM303.5mil, as revenue sneaked up 1.4% to RM2.26bil, which was primarily due to higher contributions from active and newly launched phases during the financial year.
It said the vast improvement in cumulative net earnings was attributed to improvement in gross profit margins recorded by its subsidiaries.
Compared against the preceding quarter ended July (3Q24), net profit was also up 3.7% from RM80.4mil, as turnover increased 21.3% from RM526.2mil.
The better results were mainly due to better site progress on active and on-going phases.
Eco World declared a dividend of two sen per share for 4Q24, bringing the cumulative dividend for the fiscal year to six sen per share.
Looking ahead, the group said the location of its said recently acquired lands, which are all situated adjacent to its existing matured townships, will enable it to enjoy economies of scale and benefit from the established brand presence and customer following that it has cultivated in the immediate vicinity.
