KUALA LUMPUR: Eco World Development Group Bhd (Eco World Malaysia) reported robust sales growth in the third quarter ended July 31, boosted by its success in converting digital leads into purchases during the MCO lockdown period.

       Sales increased by more than RM1bil since the second quarter, the property developer said in a statement today.

       As of end of August. cumulative of RM3.11bil had already surpassed its own internal target of RM2.875bil.

       President and CEO Datuk Chang Khim Wah attributed the sales outperformance to "agility in pursuing on-line leads aggressively." He cited the effectiveness of the Group’s digitalisation initiatives (from frontline to backroom processes) which enabled systematic follow-through with potential customers and conversion of leads into sales online.

       But despite the sales jump, the group's results were impacted by the government imposed full lockdown in June and July.

       Revenue during the third quarter declined to RM449mil from RM478mil a year ago. Net profit slipped to RM35.2mil compared with RM35.8mil previously.

       Chang expects construction work to pick up pace as the economy reopens.

       "Now that 100% of our staff who are medically eligible for vaccination and more than 80% of site workers are fully vaccinated, all of EcoWorld Malaysia’s construction sites are able to operate at full capacity, which will enable us to catch up on work progress,” he said.

       “We have also been permitted to reopen our sales galleries, and are therefore able to welcome customers to visit us once again to personally view our projects and properties, which is still an important step in the buying process for many," he added.

       "This will enable EcoWorld Malaysia to proceed with our plans for the launch of several new phases before the end of the year to build up a strong pipeline of sales for the upcoming year," he said.

       Adding overseas sales during the first ten-month up until Aug 31, the total group-wide sales has breached the RM4bil mark.

       Eco World International Bhd reported RM338mil sales in 3Q 2021, and a further RM81mil in August 2021.

       This lifted its year-to-date sales to RM1.04bil, plus reserves of RM285mil that added to RM1.33bil as of end of August.？Eco World Group's share of future revenue as at Aug 31 remained high at RM4.1bil – RM3.72bil contributed by its Malaysian projects whilst EcoWorld Malaysia’s attributable share of EcoWorld International’s future revenue stands at RM386mil.