Brexit To Bring Immediate Positive Impact - Ecoworld International

KUALA LUMPUR, June 29 (Bernama) -- Britain's referendum to exit the European Union (EU), or Brexit, will bring an immediate positive impact due to the weakness of the pound sterling, said Ecoworld International Bhd (EWI) Chief Executive Officer Teow Leong Seng. "As more than 40 per cent of our buyers in the United Kingdom are international buyers, they will enjoy about 10 per cent 'discount'," he said, adding the pound sterling's weakness would provide investors with a 10 per cent firepower to go into London properties. "We are going for an initial public offering (IPO) with a target to raise US$641.29 million (RM2.6 billion) to fund projects in the UK and Australia, so this is a big positive (for us)," he told a press conference here Tuesday. Moving forward, Teow believed the company's property sales in the UK would continue to remain strong as the UK is regarded a primary destination with or without Brexit. Although Malaysia's conglomerate, YTL Corporation Bhd, was reportedly said to be looking at buying more assets in the UK due to the falling pound, EWI Vice-Chairman Liew Kee Sin however said the group had no plans to purchase any land or launch new projects in the UK yet unless there were opportunities. On the same note, in a filing to Bursa Malaysia (Malaysia's Stock Exchange) on Tuesday, the Brexit will not affect YTL Power International Bhd and its units, given that the event is still developing with no official indication from the UK government on the future steps to be taken. YTL Power said, in light of the uncertain and highly fluid nature of the current situation, it was not able to quantify the effects of the outcome of Brexit on the group at this time. The group's major operations in the UK comprised its entire stake in Wessex Water Ltd, which provides water and sewerage services in the south-west region of England under a regulatory concession granted by the UK government. "Wessex Water, due to the regulated nature of the business and the geographic concentration of its operations within the UK, is not expected to be materially affected by the outcome of the referendum," it said. The company said it was monitoring events and conducting ongoing assessments of any operational and financial impacts, and will make further announcements in due course, where warranted. --BERNAMA