Eco World International Bhd president and chief executive officer Datuk Teow Leong Seng.
KUALA LUMPUR: Eco World International Bhd
(EcoWorld International) has achieved RM1.003bil sales plus reserves of RM157mil in the first 10 months of the financial year ending Oct 31, 2023 (FY23), adding up to a total of RM1.16bil.
“This places the group largely on track to achieve the sales target of RM1.4bil for FY23,” the developer said in a statement.
EcoWorld International said Embassy Gardens, which generated RM525mil sales, was the biggest contributor to sales, followed by Wardian (RM172mil), London City Island (RM109mil) and Yarra One (RM64mil).
As at July 31, EcoWorld International had net cash of RM801mil. Including the group’s effective share of net cash balances at joint venture entities, the total net cash balance stands at RM831mil.
“The substantial cash generated from sales of the group’s completed stocks enabled the Board to declare a dividend amounting to RM792mil, which will be paid to shareholders on Sept 29,” EcoWorld International said.
The developer said the steady sales progress also resulted in the actual dividend distribution of RM792mil being significantly higher than the initial estimate of the first tranche dividend of at least RM300mil to be paid to shareholders following the completion of its capital reduction exercise.
“The appreciation of the pound sterling (GBP) since the fourth quarter of 2022 when we first announced our intention to distribute excess cash back to shareholders has increased the ringgit value of the group’s remaining unsold completed stocks,” president & CEO Datuk Teow Leong Seng said.
As at Aug 31, EcoWorld International and its joint ventures have approximately RM1.1bil of completed and nearly-completed stocks that are available for sale, of which the group’s effective share of these stocks is approximately RM800mil.
“We will continue to focus on monetising our stocks with the aim of distributing more excess cash back to shareholders. With regard to new launches, these will continue to be put on hold until market conditions improve and cost pressures stabilise. As a result, the immediate working capital requirements of the group will be lower than originally estimated,” Teow said.
He said the group currently expects that total dividends payable from the group’s excess cash (including the RM792mil to be paid in September 2023) should exceed the original estimate of RM900mil it announced earlier.
“In this regard, management is working towards declaring a second tranche dividend of RM144mil from our excess cash in December 2023 with potentially more to come in FY2024. This is consistent with our intention to progressively distribute the bulk of the proceeds received from the monetisation of stocks (less our reduced working capital requirements) to our shareholders as dividends over time,” Teow said.
In the third quarter ended Oct 31, EcoWorld International posted a smaller net loss of RM12.3mil, or loss per share of 0.51 sen against RM56.7mil, or 2.36 sen a year ago.
Its revenue was lower at RM31.2mil from RM34.5mil a year prior.
In the first nine months to Oct 31, it posted a net loss of RM47.7mil on revenue of RM76.2mil.
