Godrej Properties' Q1 net debt up 45 pc to Rs 5,298 cr from March-end; may rise further

New Delhi: Godrej Properties' net debt rose 45 per cent during April-June period of this fiscal to Rs 5,298 crore from the previous quarter on aggressive land purchase across major cities.

According to an investor presentation, net debt of Godrej Properties -- the real estate arm of business conglomerate Godrej Group -- stood at Rs 5,298 crore as on June 30, 2023 as against Rs 3,649 crore at March-end. Debt-equity ratio stands at 0.56.

Since April last year, Godrej Properties has been aggressive in new business development under which the company is purchasing land outright and also entering into joint development agreements (JDAs) wth land owners to create a pipeline for future development. It focuses on Delhi-NCR, Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune and Bengaluru markets.

Enthused by strong housing demand, the company acquired 18 land parcels last fiscal year for development of new projects with an estimated sales potential of Rs 32,000 crore.

It purchased four new land parcels with an estimated saleable area of 3.7 million square feet and expected booking value of Rs 6,450 crore between April-July period of this fiscal.

Replying to a query whether the debt will increase further, Gordrej Properties Executive Chairman Pirojsha Godrej said, "I think you will see some increase...given the business development over the next couple of quarters."

"But we think thereafter next year, we think the calendar 2024 is when there's a lot of these project launches happening...we expect very strong positive operating cash flows," he added.

Earlier this month, Pirojsha had said the company's sales performance remained muted in April-June, but the company will meet the annual target to sell properties worth Rs 14,000 crore this fiscal.

Godrej Properties' sale bookings fell 11 per cent year-on-year during the first quarter of 2023-24 to Rs 2,254 crore.

"In terms of sale bookings, April-June was a weak quarter for us. But in deliveries, it was strong as we did nearly 5 million square feet area. Our annual guidance for deliveries is 12.5 million square feet," he had said in an interview.

He exuded confidence that the company will achieve "healthy growth" in sale bookings during the remaining three quarters.

Pirojsha said the company would achieve or even better the annual sales guidance of Rs 14,000 crore in 2023-24 against Rs 12,232 crore in the previous fiscal.

Godrej Properties launched very few residential projects during the first quarter of 2023-24 and the bulk of bookings came from the ongoing projects.

The pipeline of new launches is "very strong", he had said.

On the financial performance front, the company recently reported a nearly three-fold jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 124.94 crore for the first quarter as against Rs 45.55 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income rose to Rs 1,265.98 crore in April-June 2023-24 from Rs 426.40 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.