EWI Capital weighs UK land sales, eyes overseas buys and local projects: Maybank IB

KUALA LUMPUR: EWI Capital Bhd is considering selling off its remaining landbank in the United Kingdom and exploring overseas acquisitions or new property ventures in Malaysia amid a sluggish UK property market.

According to Maybank Investment Bank Bhd (Maybank IB), the company is also revising and resubmitting approvals for its remaining UK projects, including the 70 per cent-owned Woking and Kew Bridge developments.

“EWI Capital does not rule out disposing of these projects once approvals are obtained, as this would make the sites more attractive to potential buyers. 

“The three landbanks have a book value of RM609 million. Elsewhere, EWI Capital plans to acquire yielding assets overseas that can provide recurring income within a short period, compared to the relatively longer gestation period of property development projects,” it said in a note. 

EWI Capital’s projects in the UK are London City Island (LCI), Wardian, and Aberfeldy projects in London.

Of the three sites, the 75 per cent-owned LCI and Wardian residential units were fully sold, while the remaining commercial units at LCI and Wardian are close to being fully sold. 

As for Aberfeldy, EWI Capital has secured planning approvals for Phase 2, but no launch timeline has been provided due to the challenging property market environment. 

The firm lowered its loss forecasts for EWI Capital by 13 per cent to 31 per cent for financial years 2025 (FY25) and FY26, as it does not expect the company to continue distributing dividends, with cash likely to be deployed for growth. 

It maintained a ‘Buy’ call on the stock with an unchanged target price of 41 sen.

© New Straits Times Press (M) Bhd

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