PETALING JAYA: Eco World Development Group Bhd
(EcoWorld Malaysia) surpassed its full-year sales target of RM3.5bil in the first 10 months of FY24, the group said in a statement today.
From a regional perspective, Iskandar Malaysia was the largest contributor, accounting for 63% of the group’s total year-to-date sales, followed by 27% from the Klang Valley and 10% from Penang.
According to the group, its industrial segment achieved RM1.05bil in sales as at Aug 31, 2024, which exceeded the full-year record of RM1.04bil in FY23.
"We are confident that the group, through our sizeable, diversified yet complementary Eco Business Parks and Quantum pillars, will be able to meet the heightened industrial demand as we are able to cater to both traditional industrialists as well as technopreneurs and new economy players," said president and CEO Datuk Chang Khim Wah in a statement.
In the third financial quarter ended July 31, 2024, EcoWorld Malaysia recorded a higher net profit of RM80.44mil compared to RM66.34mil in the year-ago quarter.
The group reported revenue of RM526.22mil in the quarter under review, as compared to RM476.85mil previously.
The developer said its higher earnings were attributable to higher contributions from active phases as well as newly launched phases.
“Gross profit recorded a higher percentage increase than revenue due to the improvement in gross profit margin from 27.2% in 3Q23 to 31.3% in 3Q24.
"This was mainly due to realisation of cost savings of certain completed and near completion phases,” it noted in comments accompanying its filing with Bursa Malaysia.
The main projects that contributed to the improved performance in 3Q24 were Eco Botanic, Eco Botanic 2, Eco Spring, Eco Tropics, Eco Business Park I, Eco Business Park II and Eco Business Park III in Iskandar Malaysia and Eco Majestic, Eco Forest and Eco Sanctuary in the Klang Valley.
The group declared a second interim dividend of two sen per share, which is payable in October 2024.
Year-to-date, EcoWorld Malaysia registered RM1.62bil in revenue compared to RM1.38bil previously, while net profit increased to RM220.12mil from RM186.03mil on the back of higher contributions from active phases as well as newly launched phases, and realisation of cost savings of certain completed and near completion phases.
The group said there was RM657.6mil cash generated from operating activities in the first nine months of FY24, surpassing the full-year cash generated of RM572.2mil in FY23.
Cash balances stood at RM1.55bil as at July 31, 2024, which is an all-time high for EcoWorld Malaysia, enabling a further reduction of net gearing ratio to 0.21 times.
"This puts us in a highly favourable position to acquire more landbank. On this note we are actively working on several potential landbank acquisitions to broaden and deepen EcoWorld Malaysia’s market share, which will pave the way for robust and sustainable growth in the future," said Chang.
