MAIN market-listed Eastern and Oriental Bhd is well prepared and poised for its next cycle of growth after having achieved robust profits, increased revenue aand record sales, said Executive Director Eric Chan Kok Leong.

He said the financial year ended March 31, 2010 saw a remarkable turnaround in performance with the group returning to the black with a profit-after-tax of RM74.4 million against an after-tax loss of RM32.10 million recorded in the previous financial year.

The group continued to achieve a solid performance in the first-quarter of the current financial year ending March 31, 2011 with profit-after-tax increasing to RM12.1 million, up from RM5.7 million registered in the same period last year.

'The group's cash and gearing positions are very healthy at half a billion ringgit,' he told reporters in Kuala Lumpur today after the company's annual general meeting.

Chan said property development projects would contribute a major portion of its group revenue in years to come.

The company is also involved in two other core business activities of property investment and, hospitality and lifestyle.

He added with EandO's brand presence and balance sheet strength, the company would concentrate on the execution of eight projects and the development of its 520 hectares of prime landbank collectively amounting to RM4 billion in gross development value.

Chan also said this would include the construction of two recently-launched projects namely St Mary's Residences in Kuala Lumpur and Quayside Seafront Resort condominiums in Seri Tanjung Pinang, Penang.

Four projects, worth RM2 billion, would be located in Penang and the rest in the Klang Valley.

Chan said the company would remain focused on developing properties in the prime areas of the Klang Valley and Penang as regional markets were not the company's top priority for now. - BERNAMA