NEW DELHI: Realty major DLF aims a 30 per cent jump in its sales bookings to Rs 4,000 crore this fiscal, as the company expects a rise in housing demand despite the COVID-19 pandemic.
The company will launch various projects, comprising 8 million square feet of saleable area, to tap this growing demand for residential properties, especially those built by trusted developers.
In a conference call with analysts, DLF’s new CEO Ashok Kumar Tyagi gave sales bookings guidance of Rs 1,000 crore per quarter during the current financial year.
During the financial year 2020-21, DLF sold residential properties worth Rs 3,084 crore, up 24 per cent from the previous year, despite muted sales in April-June 2020 due to a nationwide lockdown.
DLF’s Group Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Vivek Anand said the company is committed to delivering on sales bookings guidance.
“Internally, we are gearing for even higher number,” Anand said adding that sales would be slow in the current quarter due to the second wave.
On supply, DLF’s CFO highlighted that the company targets to launch eight million square feet area in the current fiscal.
It is set to launch project in the national capital being developed in joint venture with Singapore sovereign wealth fund GIC.
After receiving good customer response for independent floors in Gurugram, DLF said it will launch more such products in the market for sale.
DLF Senior Executive Director (Business Development) Aakash Ohri said the demand is there is all the housing segments — mid-income and luxury.
He highlighted that monthly rentals in DLF’s luxury apartments are also high, generating good return for investors.
In its analyst presentation, DLF said: “Residential demand had exhibited strong rebound during the later part of FY21. Q1FY22 may be impacted due to the lockdown restrictions.”
The company noted that growth drivers like affordability, consumer sentiments and desire to own a home remain fundamentally in place and these would continue to aid in demand recovery in the housing segment.
DLF said the real estate industry witnessed a structural positive shift in housing demand in 2020-21.
“Consolidation and increase in market share for larger and credible developers were witnessed and may continue to gather momentum in the future,” the company observed.
DLF pointed out that the industry is witnessing temporary dislocation due to the second wave of the pandemic.
As a result, construction work, approvals and customer engagement have been impacted in the short term.
On the financial performance, DLF reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 480.94 crore for the quarter ended March.
The company had posted a net loss of Rs 1,857.76 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income rose to Rs 1,906.59 crore in the fourth quarter of last fiscal year, from Rs 1,873.80 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.
For the entire financial year 2020-21, DLF posted a net profit of Rs 1,093.61 crore as against a net loss of Rs 583.19 crore.
Total income fell to Rs 5,944.89 crore last fiscal from Rs 6,888.14 in the financial year 2019-20.
Source: Press Trust of India