Godrej Properties expects its sales bookings during the ongoing fiscal to be at an all-time high, beating the previous year's record Rs 5,915 crore despite the COVID-19 pandemic, as housing demand is consolidating towards trusted developers, a top company official said.
In an interview with PTI, Godrej Properties Executive Chairman Pirojsha Godrej said sales bookings during June quarter grew 71 per cent to Rs 1,531 crore, surpassing even his expectations.
He said the company's focus would be to add new projects for developments and gain market share in four key markets -- Delhi-NCR (National Capital Region), Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Bengaluru and Pune.
"This year hopefully should be our best year in sales bookings perspective," he said.
During 2019-20 fiscal year, Godrej Properties achieved sales bookings of Rs 5,915 crore, highest among listed realty firms.
The strong sales bookings in the first quarter signals that housing demand is consolidating towards trusted developers with healthy balance sheets, he said.
Pirojsha said the attractive payment plan (10:90) offered by the company played an important role in robust sales bookings during the June quarter, and in fact contributed around 80 per cent to the overall sales.
The company achieved an average 11 per cent price increase under this scheme, which was launched for only under construction projects, he said, adding that there was no impact on margins.
Pirojsha said the scheme will not be offered for new projects the company will launch.
He said the company launched only one project during the first quarter because of the nationwide lockdown, imposed to control the spread of coronavirus disease.
However, launches would pick up pace in the second half of this fiscal.
Godrej Properties targets to launch 15 million sq ft area in phases in existing projects and new projects.
Pirojsha said financial numbers would remain poor this year due to adverse impact on construction activities during the pandemic, which will affect revenue recognition process.
Godrej Properties raised Rs 1,000 crore in July through allotment of unsecured, redeemable, non-convertible debentures on a private placement basis for a term of three years at 7.5 per cent interest rate.
"Our debt numbers will continue to rise this year. We have lot of plans to invest in new projects," he said.
Pirojsha said the company is in talks to acquire new land parcels, either in joint venture or outright purchase, for future developments.
"We have huge opportunities to drive consolidation process even faster and gain market share," he said.
Godrej Properties, the real estate arm of Godrej Group, reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 20.23 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal year as against a net profit of nearly Rs 90 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income declined to Rs 195.66 crore in the first quarter of the fiscal from Rs 713.84 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.
During the last fiscal year, its net profit stood at Rs 267.21 crore on a total income of Rs 2,914.59 crore.
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