Lodha Developers sells Rs 4,200 crore worth properties in April-Sepember; eyes Rs 9,000 crore sales in FY19

New Delhi: Realty major Lodha Developers sold properties worth about Rs 4,200 crore in the first half of this fiscal and its sales may cross Rs 9,000 crore in 2018-19 on improved demand for affordable and mid-income housing, a top company official said. Lodha Developers has emerged as the biggest player in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) with 18 percent market share in sales, its MD Abhishek Lodha said, citing industry data. The Mumbai-based firm plans to hit the capital market with an initial public offer (IPO) of about Rs 5,500 crore. It got approval from Sebi in July. “Housing demand in affordable and mid-income segment has improved. Our sales bookings and collections were good in the first six months of this financial year,” he told PTI. The company has achieved sales of around Rs 4,200 crore during April-September period of 2018-19 fiscal year. Sales collections from customers stood at nearly Rs 5,000 crore during the period. [caption id=“attachment_4219349” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representational image. Reuters[/caption] “If sales momentum continues, our sales and collections may cross Rs 9,000 crore and Rs 10,000 crore, respectively, from India business,” he said. “We expect 10-12 percent growth in sales and 14-15 percent growth in collection over last year,” Lodha said. The company has a major presence in MMR and Pune, besides London where it is developing two prime properties. Quoting data complied by a research agency from the Maharashtra real estate regulator’s website, Lodha highlighted that the company had the highest 18 percent market share in MMR in terms of sales during August 2017 to July 2018. “Our market share was equivalent to other nine developers in top 10,” he added. He also noted that the demand is shifting towards organised and credible developers as the inventories with them are lower. Going forward, he said the company would also focus on expanding its business in other real estate verticals such as shopping malls and warehousing. Meanwhile, Lodha Developers revived its IPO plan in April and filed the draft red herring prospectus (DRHP) with Sebi seeking approval to float an initial share-sale. In July, it got market regulator Sebi’s nod. Lodha’s share sale, if successful, would be the second biggest IPO in the real estate sector after DLF that raised close to Rs 9,200 crore in 2007. This would be the second attempt by Lodha Developers to launch a public issue and list its shares on the stock exchanges. According to the latest DRHP filed by Lodha, the company will issue fresh shares worth up to Rs 3,750 crore. The promoters will sell up to 1.8 crore shares through the Offer For Sale (OFS) route. The company is also considering a pre-IPO placement of up to 95 lakh equity shares for cash consideration aggregating up to Rs 750 crore, the document said. From the net proceeds of fresh issue of shares, Lodha would utilise Rs 3,300 crore to retire its debt, which stood at nearly Rs 18,000 crore as of January-end this year. The privately-held Lodha Group, which was founded in 1995 by Mangal Prabhat Lodha, had completed projects with developable area of 50.49 million sq ft till December last year. The company has 37 ongoing projects, of which 35 are in India and two in London. These projects account for a developable area of 33.80 million sq ft. The group had forayed into the London realty market in 2013 and acquired two prime sites in central London for an investment of about 400 million pounds. Lodha Developers had posted a 32 percent rise in its consolidated net profit at Rs 790 crore during the last fiscal from Rs 599 crore in the previous year. Total income rose by 22 percent to Rs 9,700 crore in 2017-18 from Rs 7,957 crore in the previous year.