Friday 29 Mar 2024
By
main news image

KUALA LUMPUR (March 29): Eco World Development Group Bhd (EcoWorld) saw net profit for its first quarter ended Jan 31, 2018 (1QFY18) shrink some 79% to RM24.09 million from RM116.17 million a year ago, largely because the previous year had benefited from a RM94.8 million disposal gain.

Excluding the impact of the disposal gain and lower interest expense in 1QFY17, the group recorded a 29.6% year-on-year rise in quarterly core earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) to RM62.6 million from RM48.3 million.

This was due to lower selling, marketing and administrative expenses, as well as higher profits from its Malaysian joint ventures following the commencement of profit recognition from the Eco Ardence and Eco Grandeur projects, Eco World said in a filing with the stock exchange today.

The group’s quarterly revenue, however, slipped 5% y-o-y to RM563.59 million from RM592.71 million, due to progressively completed properties in several projects having been handed over, which reduced contributions from these projects.

In a statement, Eco World president and chief executive Datuk Chang Kim Wah said: "We are pleased to report that our underlying business fundamentals remain strong as attested to by the growth in our core earnings. This positive trend, supported by our high effective share of unbilled sales of RM6.2 billion as at 1Q 2018, should continue as more of our joint-venture projects reach the level of construction works required to enable profit recognition to commence."

And despite continued market challenges and a seasonally quiet first quarter, the group has noticed a marked pickup in sales interest after the Chinese New Year period, he added.

“We intend to build on this positive momentum by launching an exciting new campaign called 'Celebrating Beyond Tomorrow' shortly. This campaign will showcase not just what we have already achieved on the ground to date and the value creation we have delivered to our buyers but also the exciting new initiatives we have in store for them to make each and every EcoWorld project the most liveable in the country,” he continued.

Shares in Eco World closed unchanged at a four-year low of RM1 today, leaving the group with a market capitalisation of RM2.94 billion.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share