 "Emami Realty aims for 50% sales growth to Rs 750 crore in FY23")
Emami Realty has projected that real estate demand will remain robust despite economic headwinds, and is aiming at a 50 per cent jump in sales to Rs 750 crore in the current fiscal, a top company official said on Wednesday.
The real estate arm of the diversified Emami Group has targeted retiring its long-term debt by 2023-24, which is now pegged at Rs 118 crore, he said.
The developer, which has a land bank of around 2,500 acres in 7-8 cities in the country, will leverage the resource for new projects and explore monetisation of a part of it in the next few years.
"Economic headwinds, high commodity prices and other associated costs affected us by around 20 per cent. Despite all these, robust demand will continue and help overcome the challenges.
We are expecting a topline of Rs 750 crore in the current fiscal from the standalone operations as against nearly Rs 500 crore sales achieved in FY'22," Emami Realty MD and CEO Nitesh Kumar told PTI in a telephonic interview.
The total revenue from projects, including joint venture ones, is pegged at Rs 1,180 crore during the fiscal.
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The combined revenue in FY22 was Rs 950 crore, registering an 85 per cent year-on-year growth.
After the introduction of real estate regulations, home buyers have been switching to organised real estate companies, he said, adding that such a trend helps these firms maintain strong sales.
Various supports from state governments to the sector have also helped bolster demand, he said.
"Reputation we earned over the years by our consistent performance and the ability to keep promises to our customers have translated into phenomenal results," he said.
During the current financial year, the company also plans to launch new projects worth Rs 1,000 crore.
Last year, Emami unveiled projects worth Rs 700 crore.
These include a 100-acre integrated township project at Jhansi in Uttar Pradesh, Aerocity in Coimbatore on 62 acres of land, Astha, an eco-living project, in Kolkata on 40 acres and an office building at the IT hub in Salt Lake and 20 lakh sq-ft housing projects in Mumbai.
Kumar also said, "The debt level of the company had been reduced to Rs 118 crore as of March 2022 from Rs 264 crore with a strong cash flow. We are aiming at retiring the entire long-term loan outstanding by 2023-24. Only short-term operational debt will continue depending on projects."
"Our land bank of 2,500 acres in eight cities is huge and it will be good enough for the next 7-8 years' growth plans. We will also evaluate monetising some land parcels," he said.
Speaking about the Kolkata market, he said, "We are bullish on the growth prospects in the city, driven by infrastructure development and policy incentives by the West Bengal government."
Emami Realty Ltd has so far successfully delivered more than 24 residential and commercial projects, comprising a 36 million sqft area, primarily in Kolkata.