KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 22 — Eastern and Oriental Bhd (E&O) is cautiously optimistic about achieving its sales target of RM500 million for the financial year ending March 31, 2024 (FY2024), driven by continued sales of its existing products and unbilled sales of RM1.13 billion to be progressively recognised over three years.

Executive chairman Datuk Tee Eng Ho said the property developer had already achieved RM451.2 million in sales for the first half of 2024, namely from The Meg (RM6.5 million), Arica (RM305.4 million), Conlay (RM26.7 million), The Peak (RM47.2 million) and Avira (RM65.7 million).

"For the rest of the year, we do not have much to sell. The Meg is already sold out while The Peak has been sold for about 70 per cent, Avira and Arica are 90 per cent sold out and Conlay for about 48 per cent.

"Only Conlay was a bit slow, so we are looking to do more roadshows overseas to boost its sales and especially to attract more buyers from Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea and China,” he told reporters at the sidelines of the second quarter ended Sept 30, 2023 (2Q 2024) results briefing here today.

For 2Q 2024, E&O posted a net profit of RM29.73 million from RM16 million registered in the same quarter last year.

Revenue stood at RM123.86 million, up 30.4 per cent, from RM95,02 million previously.

The company shared that the properties segment’s revenue rose by 35 per cent from RM71.4 million to RM96.4 million in 2Q 2024.

The improved revenue was attributed to higher sales of its ongoing project, Arica@Andaman, as well as its joint venture projects, namely Conlay, The Peak and Avira Garden Terraces.

Similarly, it said the hospitality segment’s revenue increased by 15.8 per cent from RM22.5 million to RM26 million, attributed to the higher average room rate and occupancy rate achieved by Eastern & Oriental Hotel (Penang) and E&O Residences (Kuala Lumpur), in the current quarter under review.

In turn, the group’s net profit also increased substantially mainly due to the enhanced revenue and absence of unrealised foreign exchange loss of RM19.9 million recognised in 2Q 2023.

For the cumulative six-month financial period (1H 2024), E&O’s revenue rose by 22 per cent to RM209.3 million from RM171.6 million in the corresponding period last year, while net profit surged to RM62.69 million from a net loss of RM1.6 million.

"The properties and hospitality segments were the revenue growth drivers, whereby revenue was up 22.2 per cent to RM157.4 million and 20.8 per cent to RM49.4 million, respectively.

"Notwithstanding the higher revenue coming from the properties and hospitality segments, recognition of unrealised foreign exchange gain of RM25.7 million, in comparison to the unrealised foreign exchange loss of RM42.7 million in 1H 2023, was also a factor behind the significant net profit surge,” it shared.

Commenting further on the result, managing director, Kok Tuck Cheong said the group’s financial performance was aligned with expectations.

He said the encouraging sales from Arica not only indicate the group’s understanding to deliver and cater to the demand of today’s property buyers but also stand to support its larger ambitions and strategies of creating a sustainable population of the Andaman Island in the long run.

"We are currently working on our up-and-coming landed homes in Andaman, which is expected to be launched in the fourth quarter of the financial year 2024, with anticipation that the positive responses received from our Andaman sales will continue.

"In essence, the property market is showing promising signs of growth, and we are cautiously optimistic that this will further bolster our earnings, not only from Penang but from the sales of our developments located across prime areas such as Damansara Heights in Kuala Lumpur and Johor Bahru,” Kok said.

Heading into the year-end festive season, the group is also seeing higher occupancy rates in its hotels in Malaysia and London, which Kok believes will continue to contribute positively to the earnings. — Bernama