Macrotech Developers Q3 sales bookings up 40% to Rs 2,608 crore

Realty firm Macrotech Developers on Thursday reported a 40 per cent increase in sales bookings to Rs 2,608 crore during the quarter ended December on higher housing demand, helping the company to trim net debt by 20 per cent to Rs 9,925 crore.

Macrotech Developers, one of the leading real estate developers in India, markets its properties under Lodha brand.

In a regulatory filing, Macrotech said its sales bookings grew to Rs 2,608 crore during the third quarter of this fiscal, from Rs 1,862 crore in the year-ago period.

The sales bookings number pertains to its projects in India. On Wednesday, the company had reported sales bookings of Rs 1,900 crore in its two projects in London.

The collections from customers against sales rose 44 per cent to Rs 2,127 crore from Rs 1,472 crore during the period under review.

The company's net debt (India business) fell to Rs 9,925 crore as on December 31, 2021 from Rs 12,477 crore at the end of the September quarter.

"Continuing with our focus on capital light growth, we have entered into JDA (joint development agreements) for six additional new projects during the quarter having (around) 4.8 million square feet of saleable area with GDV (gross development value) of Rs 10,000 crores," the filing said.

The company said since its IPO, which was launched in April last year, it has signed JDAs for eleven projects with cumulative GDV of around Rs 14,500 crore.

On sales bookings, Macrotech said this was the best quarterly sales performance in the last 12 quarters in India.

The firm's MD & CEO Abhishek Lodha said: "Our business performance is a testimony to demand for high quality homes and the trust reposed by consumers in our brand."

Considering its performance in the last two quarters, Lodha said the recovery in housing market has taken root and the multi-year up-cycle in housing market is well underway.

He expressed confidence that the pre-sales guidance of Rs 9,000 crore for the fiscal will be achieved, assuming no major impact on account of COVID.

The company had achieved sales bookings of Rs 5,970 crore in the last fiscal year.

Macrotech is currently developing residential, commercial and warehousing projects in Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune only.

However, it recently announced plans to enter the Bengaluru property market to capture the expected rise in housing demand from IT/ITeS employees.