DLF on Tuesday, Aug 7, said it expects to close sale of three non-core assets, which will help pare its debt by about 5,000 crore, by the end of the current fiscal.
The sell-off process for Aman Resorts, Mumbai mill land and wind power business is in the pre-closing diligence stage, the Delhi-based company told analysts at a conference call. The developer’s debt stood at 22,680 crore at the end of June.
DLF on Monday reported an 18.29% year-on-year drop in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June, as it was weighed down by costly finance and slowdown in home sales. Finance cost for the quarter was up 25.6% to 623 crore from 496 crore in the year-ago period.
The company’s income for the quarter declined 7% to 2,329 crore from 2,503 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal.
“We see our results to be in line with the macro environment. We expect to have some new launches in the fourth quarter of this year,” group chief financial officer Ashok Tyagi said.
During the quarter, DLF realised 369 crore from sale of stake in Adone Hotels, which helped reduce debt by 45 crore. The company had raised 1,774 crore through asset sales in 2011-12.
DLF said the real estate sector was likely to face pressure from high interest rates and the hawkish stance of banks for some more time, while the commercial IT office segment would remain subdued due to the global economic slowdown.
“There is no significant increase in uptake of office space, but some increase in rentals,” Tyagi said, adding that uptake had been slow in the last two quarters.
DLF has set a sales target of 6,000-7,000 crore for the fiscal. “We are clearly looking to launch new projects in Gurgaon later this year. There will be one launch on the Golf Course Road,” said Saurabh Chawla, Executive Director, finance. The company is expected to launch the second phase of its high-end luxury project Magnolia in the second half of the fiscal. During the quarter, DLF spent 200 crore on buying land and another 150 crore towards building rental properties.
