KUALA LUMPUR (March 21): Property developer Eco World Development Group Bhd (EcoWorld) reported a 22.15% rise in net profit for its first quarter, mainly due to higher interest income from the placement of excess funds by the group’s Malaysian operations.

Earnings were also lifted by its 27%-owned joint venture, Eco World International Bhd, which recently returned to profit after nine consecutive quarters of losses.

EcoWorld's net profit for its three months ended Jan 31, 2024 (1QFY2023) rose to RM69.63 million from RM57 million a year earlier, as revenue grew 10.95% to RM537.79 million from RM484.73 million on higher contributions from active phases as well as newly launched ones.

The group recorded RM1.26 billion sales in the first four months of FY2024, representing 36% of its FY2024 sales target of RM3.5 billion. Residential homes from Eco Townships and Eco Rise pillars contributed 63% to its sales during the period.

The group is on track to achieve its FY2024 sales target of RM3.5 billion, said its president and chief executive officer Datuk Chang Khim Wah.

Notably, projects within Iskandar Malaysia outperformed significantly, with RM723 million sales achieved on robust demand, he said.

He also said the recent acquisition of two sizable tracts of land in Iskandar Malaysia for the Eco Business Park VI (EBP VI) and Eco Botanic III projects has placed the group in a strong position to expand its market share in the southern state.

“The majority of our active projects are now highly matured with land cost and primary infrastructure fully paid. As a result, the group generated RM253.4 million net cash flows from operating activities in 1QFY2024, which enabled us to pay the final dividend for FY2023 and complete our acquisition of the EBP VI project land, with minimal impact to our net gearing position,” said Chang.

“We are also actively seeking landbanking opportunities. Given our low net gearing level of 0.28 as at end-January, EcoWorld remains very well-positioned to be able to increase our landbank to further boost our growth prospects when the right opportunity comes along,” he added.

EcoWorld’s shares finished five sen or 3.45% higher at RM1.50 on Thursday, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM4.42 billion. The counter has risen over 38% since the start of this year and 114% in the past 12 months.