PETALING JAYA: Eco World Development Group Bhd
(EcoWorld) posted a 15.4% increase year-on-year (y-o-y) in its net profit during the first quarter ended Jan 31, 2025 (1Q25).
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the property developer said its net profit rose to RM80.3mil, translating into an earnings per share of 2.72 sen.
Revenue, on the other hand, was up by 0.3% y-o-y to RM539.6mil.
The improved performance was underpinned by higher contributions from active and newly launched phases, which exceeded the lower contributions from phases that are nearing completion.
Moreover, gross profit in 1Q25 rose at a higher rate, growing by 19.3% from 1Q24.
The group said this was mainly due to higher gross profit margins contributed by ongoing projects and realisation of cost savings of certain completed phases in the current quarter, resulting in improved margins of 28.4% in 1Q25 as compared to 23.9% in 1Q24.
Commenting on the company’s results, EcoWorld president and chief executive officer Datuk Chang Khim Wah said the company is off to a strong start in the financial year 2025 (FY25) with RM1.93bil sales secured in the first four months of the financial year, making up 55% of the group’s full year sales target.
“Our projects in Iskandar Malaysia continue to be the largest contributor by region, bringing in RM1.14bil or 59% of total year-to-date sales,” he said in a statement yesterday.
This is followed by 34% from the Klang Valley and 7% from Penang.
The industrial segment was the largest contributor to the group’s year-to-date sales for the first time, with close to RM1bil recorded.
Chang reiterated that the company is looking to continue expanding its portfolio of investment assets over the next three to five years while aiming for about 20% to 30% of the group’s future earnings to eventually be from recurring income sources.
“This will further enhance EcoWorld Malaysia’s earnings stability and cashflow certainty going forward, giving us increased capacity to reward shareholders with continued growth and good dividends,” he said.
Premised on strong performance achieved, the company declared an interim dividend of one sen per share in 1Q25.
The dividend’s ex-date is on April 7 and payable on April 22.
In a separate filing, Eco World said its wholly-owned subsidiary, Eco World Capital Bhd, has issued RM300mil of rated sukuk wakalah yesterday.
This is the fourth issuance under the RM3bil sukuk wakalah programme and is issued in two tranches.
The first tranche of RM100mil has a tenure of five years and the second tranche of RM200mil has a tenure of seven years.
The group said proceeds from the new sukuk issuance would be utilised by EcoWorld and its subsidiaries and/or any joint ventures, of which the company is a party to.
The proceeds would be used for working capital requirements, capital expenditure (which include land acquisition), syariah-compliant investments, refinancing or repayment of any existing debt obligations or future syariah-compliant financing obligations, aa well as general corporate purposes.
