Godrej Properties slashes net debt by 10% in Q4 on strong cash flow: Pirojsha Godrej
Upstox
3 min read • Updated: May 8, 2024, 12:48 PM
Summary
Godrej Properties, a leading Indian real estate developer, reported a significant reduction in net debt for the last quarter (Q4). The company attributed this 10% decrease, totaling around ₹700 crore, to strong sales and customer collections. Despite continued land acquisitions, Godrej Properties managed to bring their net debt down to ₹6,198 crore.
Realty firm Godrej Properties has reduced its net debt by 10% in the latest March quarter to nearly ₹6,200 crore on strong sales and collections of funds from customers, its executive chairperson Pirojsha Godrej has said. In an interview with PTI, Pirojsha said, "We have reduced our net debt by ₹700 crore during Q4 (January-March quarter of 2023-24) because of strong operating cash flow."
The company's net debt stood at ₹6,198 crore as on March 31, 2024 as against ₹6,903 crore at the end of the preceding quarter. Pirojsha attributed the reduction in the net debt to strong cash collections from customers. "We have reduced net debt even as we continue to acquire land parcels for future development," he observed.
Asked about the guidance for net debt in the current 2024-25 fiscal, Pirojsha said, "Our debt equity ratio was 0.62 at the end of the March quarter. We would like to keep our gearing ratio between 0.5 to 1:1." The net debt level may increase or decline in any particular quarter depending on investment on land acquisitions, he added.
Godrej Properties, one of the leading real estate developers in the country, achieved the highest-ever annual collection of ₹11,436 crore in FY24 with YoY growth of 27%. It also posted the highest-ever total net operating cash flow of ₹4,334 crore with YoY growth of 23%.
In the last fiscal, the company's sales bookings jumped 84% to record ₹22,527 crore from ₹12,232 crore in the preceding year. This is the highest sales reported so far by any listed entity for the 2023-24 fiscal. "We have given a sales bookings guidance of ₹27,000 crore for the current fiscal, a 20% growth from a high base in 2023-24," Pirojsha said.
To meet this guidance, Godrej Properties plans to launch ₹30,000 crore worth residential projects this fiscal across major cities. Pirojsha said the housing demand continues to be strong, especially for reputed brands. According to an investor's presentation, Godrej Properties plans to launch a 21.9 million (219 lakh) square feet area this fiscal with an estimated sales booking value of ₹30,000 crore.
Not only launches and sales, Pirojsha said the company would continue acquiring land parcels for future development and also step up deliveries of projects. Last week, Godrej Properties reported its highest-ever quarterly profit as earnings jumped 14% annually to ₹471.26 crore in the March quarter. Its net profit stood at ₹412.14 crore in the year-ago period. Total income rose to ₹1,914.82 crore in the fourth quarter of FY24 from ₹1,838.82 crore in the year-ago period.
During the 2023-24 fiscal, the company's net profit increased to ₹725.27 crore from ₹571.39 crore in the preceding year. Total income rose to ₹4,334.22 crore in FY24 from ₹3,039 crore in 2022-23. The company delivered 12.5 million square feet area in the last fiscal and is targeting to scale it up to 15 million square feet in 2024-25.
At 12:35 PM, shares of Godrej Properties traded 0.13% lower at ₹2,777.50 apiece on NSE on 8 May, 2024.
This article has been sourced directly from the PTI news feed. Except for the headline and summary, no other changes have been made.