Godrej Properties H1 sales bookings beat blues, jump 3-fold at Rs 2,809 cr

Realty firm Godrej Properties' sales bookings jumped nearly three-fold in the first half of this financial year to Rs 2,809 crore despite demand slowdown in the property market.

The company plans to launch more than 10 projects in the second half of this financial year to keep the sales momentum going, its executive chairman Pirojsha Godrej said.

For Godrej Properties, the real estate arm of the Godrej Group, sales bookings stood at Rs 987 crore in the corresponding period of the last financial year.

"We had a great first six months. Our sales bookings are already up 40 per cent from what we achieved in the entire last financial year," Godrej told PTI.

The company's sales booking stood at Rs 2,020 crore for the full 2016-17 financial year.

"We had lots of good launches and good sales, distributed across the locations where we have a presence," he said when asked about the reasons behind the sharp increase in sales.

Of the total sales bookings, Godrej said the commercial segment contributed Rs 275 crore and almost all of it in Godrej BKC project in Mumbai.

He said the overall market is still tough but the company's good track record in execution of projects has helped in beating the slowdown and winning customers' confidence.

The sales volumes are shifting to organised players from unorganised market, he noted.

Godrej said the company has added 8 new projects covering about 18 million sq ft during April-September period of this financial year.

"We have a good pipeline of launches in the second half. We will be launching more than 10 projects by March next year," he added.

On debt, Godrej said it increased by about Rs 30 crore during the second quarter to Rs 3,122 crore.

When asked about debt reduction plan, he said, "Our debt will keep reducing as we monetise commercial assets in Mumbai, Kolkata, and Chandigarh".

Last week, the company reported about 90 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 44 crore for the quarter ended September.

Total income rose by 45 per cent to Rs 532 crore in the first quarter of this financial year. 

During April-September period of this financial year, total income increased by 25 per cent to Rs 877 crore from Rs 703 crore in the year-ago period.

Net profit remained flat at Rs 67 crore in the first half of this financial year.

Godrej Properties has 147 million sq ft of developable area in 12 cities. The company generally ties-up with landowners to develop projects.