KUALA LUMPUR, March 23 — Maybank Investment Bank (Maybank IB) has lowered its loss projections for Eco World International Bhd (ECWI) for financial years 2023/2024/2025 by 33 per cent/25 per cent/37 per cent after factoring stronger sales from Australia and lower finance costs.
In a note today, the investment bank maintained its ‘buy’ call on ECWI’s shares as the property developer plans to offer attractive incentive packages and attract foreign buyers via international marketing activities to sustain the sales momentum.
“ECWI has also received approval for its last project in Sydney in February 2023 and is reviewing the project due to the uncertain property market outlook there,” added Maybank IB.
In its first quarter ended Jan 31, 2023 (1Q 2023), ECWI recorded a higher net loss of RM30.82 million compared with RM14.66 million in 1Q 2022, mainly due to foreign exchange losses that arose from the weakening of the British pound against the ringgit.
Its revenue declined to RM22.37 million versus RM49.24 million previously.
Maybank IB noted that ECWI recorded property sales of RM335 million in 1Q 2023, leaving the property developer on track to meet its RM1.4 billion sales target for financial year 2023.
“Hence, its commitment to reward its shareholders with a 37.5 sen special distribution by end-2023 is achievable,” it said.
As of 11.35am, ECWI advanced 5.5 sen to 47.5 sen, with 5.03 million shares traded. — Bernama