Sobha's sales bookings rise 6% in FY14 to Rs 2,343 crore

Realty firm Sobha Developers' sales bookings rose by about 6 per cent to Rs 2,343 crore in the last financial year on higher realisation but missed its target due to the slowdown, especially in the NCR-Gurgaon region.
Bangalore-based Sobha had achieved sales bookings of Rs 2,215 crore during 2012-13.
"At the close of the financial year, the company has registered new sales area of 3.59 million square feet valued at Rs 23.43 billion at an average price realisation of Rs 6,534 per square foot," Sobha said in an operational update.
At the start of the previous financial year, the company had estimated new sales at Rs 2,600 crore and 4.2 million square feet for 2013-14.

While the sales value increased by 5.78 per cent, the average price realisation registered a growth of 10.8 per cent year-on-year, it said. In terms of volume, sales dropped from 3.75 million square feet in 2012-13.
The company said it fell short of the sales area and value targets "owing to tough economic conditions and its consequent impact on the real-estate market, particularly in NCR-Gurgaon."

A receding economy and rising inflation, combined with heightened interest rates, had an adverse impact on savings potential, leading to a decline in general demand for goods and services, including real estate, it said.
"The slowdown in real estate sector was more prominent in the NCR region and western markets. Though the southern markets continued to be fairly resilient, the performance of the real estate sector on the whole has been subdued," Sobha said.

The company expressed confidence its sales performance would improve in 2014-15.