Lodha’s pre-sales bookings fall 62% in April-June
_1617259799177_1625718025435.jpg "Lodha said that it has reduced consolidated net debt by ₹3,600 crore during the quarter.")
Premium- Lodha’s pre-sales were up 88% from ₹509 crore reported a year ago, despite the disruption caused by the second wave of covid-19
Bengaluru: Mumbai-based real estate firm Lodha Group, also known as Macrotech Developers Ltd, on Thursday said it has clocked pre-sales of ₹957 crore in April-June, down 62% from ₹2,531 crore in the preceding March quarter.
However, pre-sales were up 88% from ₹509 crore reported a year ago, despite the disruption caused by the second wave of covid-19, the company said.
Customer collections stood at ₹1,714 crore in the first quarter of the current financial year, down 18% sequentially, but 346% higher compared to the corresponding period a year before.
Lodha said that it has reduced consolidated net debt by ₹3,600 crore during the quarter.
The developer has entered into joint development agreements with two new projects totaling 1.5 million sq ft of saleable area.
“Bring a consumer-centric brand and fulfilling the evolving customer requisites, the stellar performance for the quarter is also basis the current sentiments around the sector which is at an all-time positive. Moreover, the upsurge in Group’s business is a testament to the fact that home is considered the safest haven, both emotionally as well as financially," Lodha said in a statement.
Last week, the developer said the promoters of the company have repaid ₹1,596 crore owed by them to the company.
"Promoters owed the company a sum of ₹1,596 crore as of March 31, 2021. Of this, a sum of ₹400 crore was repaid on April 29, 2021. The balance of ₹1,196 crore, together with interest accrued thereon, has been repaid today," it said in a 1 July exchange filing.
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Coupled with this repayment, the IPO fund-raise and continued organic free cash flow generation will aid the company in its deleveraging plans and fulfill the target of net debt reduction to ₹10,000 crore by end of FY22. The company is looking forward to continuing the focus on its capital-light growth strategy around affordable & mid-income housing and digital infrastructure that includes warehousing, data centers, and industrial parks, Lodha said.
After a surprising recovery in the residential sector post the lifting of the lockdown in 2020, which continued up until March 2021, the second wave was expected to put the brakes on the revival momentum.
This week, Bengaluru-based developer firm Sobha Ltd also said its sales bookings for the June quarter rose by 40% to ₹682.9 crore on the back of good demand despite the pandemic.
The company had posted sales bookings of ₹487.7 crore in the year-ago period.
"Achieved total sales volume of 895,539 square feet of super built-up area valued at ₹6.83 billion," Sobha had said in an operational update for the April-June quarter of FY'22.
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