DLF may raise Rs 2,500 cr via sale of non-core assets

DLF, the country’s largest real estate developer, plans to raise Rs 2,500 crore in the next 15-18 months through divestment of non-core assets. As part of the plan, the company would sell land parcels and rope in a strategic investor for its luxury hotel chain Aman Resorts, said a top company executive today.

DLF sold land parcels worth Rs 294 crore during the June quarter. The billionaire KP Singh-promoted company had a net debt of Rs 18,463 crore as on June 30, and has to pay around Rs 2,158 crore in this financial year.

DLF’s gross debt rose 7.8 per cent to Rs 23,374 crore during the first quarter of this financial year, according to the latest analyst presentation by the company. Though the developer repaid around

Rs 732 crore during the June quarter, it raised additional debt of Rs 2,330 crore.

“We will continue to sell our non-core assets and reduce debt...We will look at ways to reduce cost of debt, primarily through refinancing of existing loans and derivatives,” said Saurabh Chawla, executive director, DLF, in a conference call today.

He said the company’s debt-equity ratio had come down to 0.68 in June quarter from the peak of 0.75 earlier and it planned to bring it down to 0.4 to 0.5. The company’s average cost of funds had come down to 10.5 per cent from 11.9 per cent in December 2008, he said.