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Realty major Lodha, listed as Macrotech Developers, is expected to surpass its guidance for project acquisitions worth Rs 17,500 crore in the ongoing financial year driven by a robust pipeline of business development opportunities,
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Lodha to exceed FY24 acquisition guidance, Rs 12,000-cr projects added in Q1
Realty major Lodha, listed as Macrotech Developers, is expected to surpass its guidance for project acquisitions worth Rs 17,500 crore in the ongoing financial year driven by a robust pipeline of business development opportunities, said top company official. • In the first quarter alone, the developer has added five new projects with potential gross development value (GDV) of Rs 12,000 crore during the quarter. The new projects include projects in the western suburbs of Mumbai, Bengaluru and in Alibaug. • “We have a strong pipeline of business development and based on the visibility of that we are confident of exceeding our full year (2023-24) guidance for new project additions worth development value of Rs 17,500 crore,” Abhishek Lodha, MD & CEO, Macrotech Developers, told ET. • The company has reported its best-ever first quarter pre-sales performance at Rs 3,353 crores, up 17% from a year ago. The company’s net profit for the quarter stood at 179 crores on the back of revenue from operations worth Rs 1,617 crores.
“Our strong start and industry tailwind has positioned us extremely well on our path to achieve our pre-sales guidance for the year. Strong demand conditions, improving seasonality, along with forthcoming launches at multiple new locations will lead to continuing momentum for our business in 2023-24,” Lodha added. • The company’s net debt has increased around 2% during the quarter to Rs 7,200 crores, primarily on account of front-loaded business development investment. • According to Lodha, the company remains on the path to achieve its full year guidance on reduction of net debt to lower of 0.5 times equity and 1-time operating cash flow, with significant debt reduction to be seen in the second half of the financial year. • The company has managed to lower its average cost of funds by 15 basis points despite rising policy rates and was at around 9.65% as on June end. It had reduced debt by around 25% in the previous financial year aided by higher sales, prices, and cash flow generation.
Property prices at the company’s ongoing and new projects witnessed a 7% appreciation and Lodha expects the prices to move up by 6-7% in the current financial year too. The company is planning to launch a total five new projects in the first half of 2023-24 and 8-10 projects in the second half of the year.