Debt due till Dec 31 paid, claims DLF

Realty major silent on size of repayment.

DLF, India’s biggest real estate developer, has repaid dues and may not need to approach lenders to take advantage of a central bank’s relaxed rule that allows banks to restructure cash-strapped real estate companies’ loans. The K P Singh-led DLF said it has cleared all its debts that were due till December 31. While the company did not disclose the size of repayment, a recent Edelweiss report has put DLF’s outstanding debt, that is due by March 2009, at more than Rs 2,000 crore.

“We have repaid the entire amount that was due to date. Further, DLF has had no rollover of debts in the last six months,” Ramesh Sanka, chief financial officer of the company, told Business Standard.

The company’s statement comes at a time when real estate developers are grappling with issues of repaying debt.

According to Edelweiss, DLF’s total outstanding debt on September 30, 2008, was Rs 14,673 crore. The company officials said they don’t see any problem with its debt repayment plans. The DLF statement of repaying debt comes almost a month after Fitch downgraded the realtor’s internal credit view due to reduced liquidity position, because of slowing property sales and high receivables from its affiliate DLF Asset Ltd (DAL).

The realty major had cash and bank balances of Rs 1,332 crore as of September 30, 2008, according to a Fitch report. It faces significant maturities during 2009 (Rs 6,500 crore out of which Rs 3,200 crore is due in H2-09) amid a difficult credit market, the report said.

Fitch expects DLF’s margins, credit metrics and cash flow to be under pressure as the housing environment remains difficult till next year.

The company had announced plans to shorten its design cycle, prioritise execution of projects in line with demand/ product mix and reduce non-essential costs to achieve maximum efficiency.

A slump in sales and tightened cash flow had compelled firms to approach the government for economic stimulus package for the sector. In response, the RBI had recently announced friendly bank loan restructuring norms to help soften the liquidity pressure faced by real estate players.