 "When Lodha World Towers in Worli were announced around 2010, the prices here were expected to be Rs 7.50 crore to over Rs 100 crore. (LODHA WORLD TOWERS: Then Rs 7.5 cr onwards; Now Rs 7.2 cr onwards)")
Realty firm Macrotech Developers is expecting a 50 per cent jump in sales bookings this fiscal year to over Rs 9,000 crore as it remains bullish on demand for housing and warehousing properties despite the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Mumbai-based company, earlier known as Lodha Developers, is one of the leading real estate firms in the country. It got listed on the stock exchange last month after a successful launch of its Rs 2,500 crore Initial Public Offer (IPO).
In an interview with PTI, the company's Managing Director (MD) and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Abhishek Lodha said the company's sales bookings stood at Rs 5,968 crore during 2020-21 fiscal as against Rs 6,570 crore in the previous year as almost six months were impacted in 2020.
Asked about the outlook for the current quarter and the entire fiscal, Lodha said: "We believe that the first two months will have an impact of the second wave of Covid".
"But all the positivity we are seeing on the ground makes us very confident that like last year as soon as the market reopens housing demand will catch up," he added.
Lodha said he does not foresee any significant impact on the full-year performance.
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"We believe that for FY22, we will do Rs 9,000 crore or upward of sales," he told PTI.
When asked about Godrej Properties' reporting higher sales bookings of Rs 6,725 crore in FY21 than Macrotech, Lodha said: "I do not want to comment on the competition".
He, however, highlighted that the company in the last eight financial years sold properties worth around Rs 57,000 crore, which is the highest by any developer in India.
Talking about the current April-June quarter, Lodha said the company has achieved decent sales bookings in April but pointed out that the purchase decision cycle has slowed down because of the lockdown in Maharashtra.
The Macrotech's MD noted that both housing and warehousing segments, the two company's focus areas, have benefitted from the pandemic.
"Housing benefits from lockdown. People realise the need for a better and larger home. The desire for homeownership has gone up. Housing demand is strong and resilient and I think housing is at the start of structural upcycle."
Lodha feels that the residential segment has a great potential to generate employment and wealth generation for the people as well as to revive the Indian economy.
Similarly, the growth in the e-commerce sector, driven by a spurt in online buying, has boosted the demand for warehousing, Lodha said.
Out of the total sales bookings achieved in FY21, he said the housing segment, primarily affordable and mid-income, contributed around 90 per cent, while warehousing accounted for the remaining 10 per cent.
On expansion to new property markets, Lodha said the company would continue to focus on Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune over the next few years.
To speed up the pace of construction, Lodha said the company will double its investment to Rs 2,800 crore in this fiscal.
The company's construction spends stood at around Rs 1,400 crore during the last fiscal. It delivered 2.7 million sq ft area in the last fiscal as against 15.7 million sq ft in 2019-20.
"In 2019-20, our construction spend was north of Rs 3,000 crore, which is our normal annual run rate," he said.
On debt, Lodha said the company's net debt stood at around Rs 16,000 crore at the end of the last fiscal and this is likely to come down to around Rs 12,000 crore at the end of the April-June quarter, helped by IPO proceeds and fund infusion by promoters.
He also said the company will continue to cut its debt number.
(Only the headline and picture of this report may have been reworked by the Business Standard staff; the rest of the content is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
