KUALA LUMPUR: Eco World International Bhd achieved RM1.18bil sales plus reserves of RM114mil for a total of RM1.3bil in its 2023 financial year (FY23).

According to the property developer, its biggest sales contributors were Embassy Gardens with RM617mil in sales, followed by Wardian with RM215mil, London City Island with RM107mil and Yarra One with RM91mil.

"These sales generated substantial cash for the group and enabled the distribution of the RM792mil dividend in September 2023," it added in a statement.

Announcing its results for the fourth quarter of FY23, Eco World International said net loss narrowed to RM37.69mil from a net loss of RM95.73mil in the year-ago quarter.

This was on the back of foreign exchange gains from appreciation of the pound sterling against the ringgit on repayment of advances by EcoWorld-Ballymore and conversion of GBP-denominated bank balances versus foreign exchange losses recorded in 4Q22.

There was also a reversal of impairment on investment in Eco World-Ballymore of RM64.67mil following significant progress in monetisation of inventories during the year (offset by impairment losses on amount owing by Eco World London of RM90.96mil), and lower finance costs as a result of full settlement of all borrowings in the previous quarter.

During the quarter under review, the group's revenue shrank to RM28.55mil from RM43.15mil in the comparative quarter.

Over the entire financial year, the group recorded a net loss of RM85.37mil, lower than the net loss of RM234.42mil in FY22, while revenue was RM104.8mil in FY23 as compared to RM159.96mil in the previous year.

The board of directors declared a final dividend of six sen per share for the year, which translates to RM144mil.

Combined with the RM792mil dividend already distributed, the total dividends for FY23 amount to RM936mil, which exceed the targeted RM900mil excess cash distribution set last year.

"The good progress made this year on the monetisation of our inventories along with the appreciation of the GBP since 4Q22 has enabled Eco World International to achieve higher total dividend distributions to shareholders of RM936mil for FY23 as compared to our target of RM900mil,” said Eco World International president and CEO Datuk Teow Leong Seng in a statement.

As at Oct 31, 2023, the group had about RM850mil of completed and nearly completed stocks that are available for sales.

Eco World International’s effective share of these stocks is approximately RM650mil, said Teow.

He added that Eco World International’s target for FY24 is to sell out all remaining completed and near-completed stocks with the aim of distributing the excess cash generated back to shareholders, net of the amounts required for the group’s pared down operational requirements.