DLF cuts net debt by Rs 45 crore to Rs 22,680 crore

Net debt of realty major DLF has come down marginally by Rs 45 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal to Rs 22,680 crore though it is likely to decline significantly as the company expects to finalise divestment of three major non-core assets soon.

In an analyst presentation, DLF said its net debt stood at Rs 22,680 crore as on June 30 against Rs 22,725 crore at the end of last fiscal.

On sale of non-core assets, the company said it has raised Rs 369 crore during the April-June quarter.

"All 3 major transactions are in the pre-closing diligence stage," it said, referring to the company's decision to sell hospitality chain Amanresorts, wind energy business and a prime land in Mumbai.

According to sources, DLF aims to raise a total of about Rs 6,000 crore from sale of these three big-ticket deals. The company is in advance stage of talks with Lodha Developers to sell its Mumbai land for about Rs 2,700
crore.

The company has raised Rs 5,213 crore so far from sale of non-core assets (hotel plots and IT SEZs/Parks) as it wants to focus on real estate business only.

Monday, DLF reported 18.3% fall in consolidated net profit for the quarter ended June 30 at Rs 292.79 crore, mainly due to higher interest outgo and lower sales. It had posted a net profit of Rs 358.36 crore in the year-ago period.

The income from operations during the first quarter also fell by 10.14% to Rs 2,197.71 crore from Rs 2,445.82 crore in the year-ago period.

The company's interest outgo during the last quarter rose by 25.42% to Rs 622.60 crore against Rs 496.41 crore in the same period last year.

During April-June quarter of 2012-13 fiscal, DLF's sales booking fell by 41.74% to 1.34 million square feet compared to 2.3 million square feet in the year-ago period.

The non-core businesses like DLF Pramerica Life Insurance Company and hotel segment witnessed losses of Rs 28.13 crore and Rs 1.58 crore respectively in last quarter.

"The company remains committed to its objective of consolidating its operations by focusing on the core and divesting the non-core... The company remains fully committed to achieve the divestment target of its non-core
assets," the National Capital-based firm said.

DLF had said the overall divestment target of non-core assets of Rs 10,000 crore would be met in the medium term.

"Through the outsourcing of construction, the company remains focused on faster execution of projects and shall follow a product mix that envisages high visibility projects, which would result in better value addition," it
said.