| DLF net debt falls, to raise Rs 6,000 cr by FY13-end | |
| Press Trust of India / New Delhi Feb 12, 2012, 17:13 | | | | | |
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Realty giant DLF's net debt fell by Rs 169 crore during the third quarter of this fiscal to Rs 22,758 crore and it expects to raise about Rs 6,000 crore by the end of next fiscal from sale of non-core assets.
In an analyst presentation, DLF said the company "remains focused on target divestments of Rs 6,000-7,000 crore... Proceeds are to be utilised primarily for debt reduction".
The company is targeting about Rs 6,000 crore by March 2013 from sale of non-core assets and said that three major deals are key to achieve this figure. In medium term, it expects to realise up to Rs 7,500 crore from such sales.
According to the presentation, the company is expecting Rs 2,000 crore from sale of hospitality venture Amanresorts and another Rs 1,000 crore from sale of wind energy business.
DLF expects to raise up to Rs 4,000 crore from sale of strategic projects in Mumbai and Chennai and another Rs 1,000 crore by offloading other projects that it did not name.
In the presentation, the company informed that it has raised Rs 1,620 crore in the first nine months of the current fiscal as against Rs 1,110 crore in the entire 2010-11.
DLF has decided to outsource construction activities to third parties to ensure timely completion of the projects.
"We will hand over 27-30 million sq ft in the next 2-3 years to third party contractors like L&T and Shapoorji," DLF Executive Director (Finance) Saurabh Chawla told analysts in a conference call yesterday.
The company has already handed over 9.5 million sq ft to third party contractors this fiscal, he had said.
"In the last 6-8 months, there has been some slowness in construction activities due to labour issues. With third party contractors coming in, the execution risk will go away. However, there will be some cost escalation," Chawla had said.
On Friday, DLF reported 45% fall in consolidated net profit at Rs 258 crore in the third quarter of this fiscal on account of lower than expected sales. It had posted PAT of Rs 466 crore in the year-ago period.
The Q3 consolidated revenue also fell by 8% to Rs 2,396 crore, from Rs 2,594 crore in the year-ago period.
"With macro environment continuing to remain unfavourable with high interest rates, commodity and labour cost inflation, the company's strategy shall require patience and caution to execute.
"Given these uncertainties, the company expects longer than anticipated time for its initiatives to take fruition," DLF had said.
Despite the company continuing its focus on launching plotted land developments, premium housing, divestment of non-core assets and reduction of debt, DLF may take few more quarters to regain full momentum, it had added.
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