Anita will remain with the Company until September 30, 2018. She joined Mahindra Lifespaces in the year 2002. Of the 16 years she has spent with the Company, the last nine years were as Managing Director of Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd.
Track2Realty Exclusive: A Crisil Research report maintains that absorption of new residential units across six key cities is likely to increase at a compounded annual growth rate of 7 per cent in the next two years, with Mumbai registering the highest CAGR of 14 per cent in the next two years due to huge pent-up demand. Meanwhile, the Bangalore realty market is likely to see a stable rise in sales with firms such as Sobha Developers Ltd and Prestige Estates Ltd benefiting.
Track2Realty Exclusive: The realty market has been pretty exposed to the greedy investors and vulture funding, not venture funding. In desperation the developers often lost track of what kind of funding was required and met with the disaster. Amidst the cyclic very high and very low there has been off balance debt-equity ratio as well. Of late, some developers tried within the box and some outside it. The needs and solutions are different for listed and unlisted companies. Still the sector is in search of right funding mechanism and as Track2Realty finds, are guinea pigs in the funding market.
I would like to ask the developer friends here when they say there is an ambiguity as far as ECB is concerned. Which are the funding routes that you find without ambiguity—whether it is private equity, QIP, IPO or any other route to raise money?
Gaurav Gupta: I would say there are multiple challenges for the sector.
Ravi Sinha: I have a question here, and I will be very frank with Mr Tripathi. Any journalist who writes on real estate finds it very amusing that the sector has always tried to put the ball in the government’s court. Since you have been part of the government, how far will you agree to this?
Track2Realty Exclusive-Yearly Analysis: DLF is raising funds by selling non-core assets, Godrej Properties raised funds through a QIP and HDIL is generating funds by selling transfer of development rights (TDR) and floor space index (FSI) — all to lighten the debt burden. Earlier, companies were building land banks and were rewarded for it in the stock market. Now, they are conserving cash to payback creditors.
Track2Realty: Amidst a global economic slowdown as a consequence of the US fiscal cliff and Eurozone debt crisis, India’s growth forecasts too have been revised downward over the last three quarters of the year.
In the coming months, the pressure will be to reduce debt-to-equity ratios. With so many developers in debt already, the industry is trying to come out of the situation and 2012 will not be much different. It won’t be easy and the developers are trying various routes. Selling of developed projects, vacant land is a route taken by many developers. Several developers are now providing attractive terms to PE funds to securing funding.
In 2011 six big ticket real estate IPOs was expected to raise over $2.9 billion or Rs.13,000 crore. Emaar MGF, which could not raise money in the capital market in consecutive attempts even when market conditions were conducive.
One of the biggest problems afflicting the sector is its high level of debt. The debt load of 11 listed real estate companies stands at Rs.38,500 crore.