Godrej Properties to raise Rs 700 cr through rights issue

Godrej Group real estate arm Godrej Properties plans to raise around Rs 700 crore through rights issue to fuel its growth plans, a top company official said today.

"We have planned to raise around Rs 700 crore through rights issue mainly to fund our growth plans," GPL Managing Director and Chief Executive Pirojsha Godrej told reporters while announcing the fourth quarter numbers.

He said the issue was expected to be launched in the second quarter of this financial year 2013-14.

"Despite challenging macro-economic environment and the real estate sector under-performing, we have been able to achieve a significant growth in FY13. We want to keep up with this growth momentum and launch new projects in this fiscal year," Godrej said.

GPL plans to launch nearly 15 projects, some of which may come up in Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Bangalore and later in Pune and Chennai.

"The funds raised through the issue will be utilised for ongoing projects as well as new projects. It will give us good visibility to sustain performance," he added.

Godrej further said though FY'13 was challenging, 2013-14 will be a better year both for the economic growth as well as for the sector.

"We expect the growth momentum to return mainly due to various initiatives in reforms as well as interest rate cut. Therefore, it makes sense to raise funds at this moment to increase business as well as to strengthen our balance sheet," he added.

Shares of Godrej Properties closed 2.69% down at Rs 601.70 apiece on the BSE today.