KUALA LUMPUR: EcoWorld International Bhd registered a smaller net loss of RM12.3 million for the third quarter July 31, 2023 (3Q23) compared to RM56.68 million net loss a year ago.
This was due to foreign exchange gains, lower finance costs and share of losses, as well as higher interest income from funds placements.
Its quarterly revenue fell by 9.7 per cent to RM31.17 million from RM34.5 million previously, mainly due to discounts given to accelerate sales of remaining units sold in the current quarter in line with the group's monetisation strategy.
Loss per share came in at 0.51 sen compared to 2.36 sen in 3Q22, the group's filing to Bursa Malaysia showed.
For the cumulative period of nine months, EcoWorld International posted a net loss of RM47.68 million from RM138.69 a year ago, while revenue declined to RM76.24 million from RM116.82 million previously.
Meanwhile, the group achieved RM1.003 billion sales plus reserves of RM157 million in 10 months of financial year 2023 (FY23), adding up to a total of RM1.161 billion.
This places the group largely on track to achieve the sales target of RM1.4 billion for FY23.
Embassy Gardens, which generated RM525 million sales, was the biggest contributor to sales, followed by Wardian (RM172 million), London City Island (RM109 million) and Yarra One (RM64 million).
As at July 31, EcoWorld International net cash of RM801 million, including the group's effective share of net cash balances at JV entities, total net cash balance stands at RM831 million.
The substantial cash generated from sales of the group's completed stocks enabled the board to declare a dividend amounting to RM792 million, which will be paid to shareholders on Sept 29.
The group said the steady sales progress also resulted in the actual dividend distribution of RM792 million being significantly higher than the initial estimate of the first tranche dividend of at least RM300 million to be paid to shareholders following the completion of its capital reduction exercise.
In a separate statement, president and chief executive officer Teow Leong Seng said the appreciation of the British pound sterling since 4Q22 when the group first announced its intention to distribute excess cash back to shareholders has increased the ringgit value of the group's remaining unsold completed stocks.
He added that as at Aug 31, EcoWorld International and its joint ventures had approximately RM1.1 billion of completed and nearly-completed stocks that are available for sale, of which the group's effective share of these stocks is approximately RM800 million.
"We will continue to focus on monetising our stocks with the aim of distributing more excess cash back to shareholders.
"With regard to new launches, these will continue to be put on hold until market conditions improve and cost pressures stabilise.
"As a result, the immediate working capital requirements of the group will be lower than originally estimated," he said.
Teow also noted that subject to sales of its remaining stocks proceeding as planned and the continued strength of the British pound sterling, the group expects that total dividends payable from its excess cash should exceed the original estimate of RM900 million the group had earlier announced.
"In this regard, management is working towards declaring a second tranche dividend of RM144 million from our excess cash in December 2023 with potentially more to come in FY24.
"This is consistent with our intention to progressively distribute the bulk of the proceeds received from the monetisation of stocks (less our reduced working capital requirements) to our shareholders as dividends over time," he added.