Eastern & Oriental Bhd (E&O) is gearing up to concentrate on their Andaman Island township development in Penang for this year, planning to launch two new projects with an estimated combined gross development value (GDV) of RM1 billion. These projects are set to launch within the financial year concluding on March 31, 2024.
According to managing director Kok Tuck Cheong, the demand for the township project is currently robust, with over half of the latest project, launched in March of the current year, already booked. The initial project launched on Andaman Island, known as Phase 1 Arica, has shown promising sales since the commencement of its marketing in March 2023.
Cheong expressed the company’s gratification for the eager response from prospective buyers, which reflects the company’s high-quality offerings at an affordable price point. He also disclosed that the final touches are being put on the development plans, and approval has been sought from authorities. Cheong projected that in approximately six months, they might get the required permissions to initiate other projects either at the end of this year or in the first quarter of the following year.
On the financial front, E&O reported a decrease in net profit for the fiscal year ending on March 31, 2023. The net profit dropped to RM44.55 million, a decline from the previous year’s RM63.76 million. Conversely, the company’s revenue saw a surge, reaching RM318.07 million, a significant rise from RM140.50 million the previous year.
The uptick in revenue was primarily due to a RM110.5 million increase in the properties segment and a RM64.9 million rise in the hospitality segment. The decrease in net profit was largely attributed to a write-down of RM135.3 million in property development costs. Despite this, E&O highlighted that this loss was counterbalanced by the fair value gain recognised on investment properties, elevated revenue recognition, and reduced finance costs.
