DLF net dips on higher expenses

Real estate giant DLF on Monday reported a 38 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit at Rs 181 crore for the quarter ended June against Rs 293 crore in the year-ago period.

Income from operations grew five per cent to Rs 2,314 crore in the first quarter against Rs 2,198 crore in the the year-ago period, the company DLF said in a filing to BSE. The expenditure on land and construction activities rose sharply to Rs 1,020 crore during the period from Rs 644 crore in the year-ago period. The company's share on Monday closed at Rs 138.55, up 0.40 per cent on BSE.

DLF has been on a spree to divest its non-core business to cut mounting debt of around Rs 22,000 crore.

The company has been selling land parcels and wind-power energy business to reduce debt to about Rs 17,000 crore by the end of this financial year. It has sold non-core assets for about Rs 6,500 crore in the past two years, which has brought its debt down nine per cent from financial year 2012.

The company has 325 million sq ft of planned projects, with 56 million sq ft under construction.