PETALING JAYA: Eco World International Bhd’s (EWI) net loss for the second quarter ended April 30, 2019 narrowed to RM11.98 million from RM26.46 million a year ago, due to recognition of revenue and profit by its joint venture projects in the UK following completion and commencement of handover of units sold to customers, and lower unrealised foreign exchange loss, partly offset by higher finance cost.
For the six-month period, the group recorded a net profit of RM10.78 million compared with a net loss of RM36.63 million a year ago.
It also saw an unrealised gain on foreign exchange of RM70,000 during the period, compared with an unrealised loss on foreign exchange of RM2 million a year ago.
EWI recorded RM586 million sales in the first seven months of the financial year ending Oct 31, 2019 (FY19), driven by its strategy to expand into the mid-mainstream market in London with products averaging from GBP500 psf to GBP800 psf as projects developed for this market segment contributed more than 50% of the sales achieved.
“The better performance clearly indicates that certain pockets of demand for properties in London and Australia remain resilient, even if overall homebuyers’ sentiment in these markets is weak amidst Brexit and economic uncertainties,” it said.
Moving forward, EcoWorld London is actively pursuing new build-to-rent (BTR) opportunities to tap into the growing institutional demand for purpose-built BTR projects in the UK and aims to finalise the terms for a sizeable deal before year-end.
EWI expects this potential deal to contribute significantly towards the achievement of its two-year sales target of RM6 billion set for FY19 and FY20.
At the midday break, the stock was down 0.7% to 68 sen with 56,000 shares changing hands.
