Unitech Q3 net profit up 52%, beats estimates

Higher sales and low finance costs boost results

Real estate firm Unitech has reported 52.43% jump in consolidated net profit at Rs 84.17 crore for the third quarter ended December 2012 on higher sales realisation and lower finance cost.     

It had posted a net profit of Rs 55.22 crore in the same quarter previous year.

The total income from operations grew over 25% to Rs 644.72 crore during the third quarter against Rs 514.22 crore in the corresponding period of the previous fiscal, the company said.

The finance cost declined to Rs 8.4 crore during the quarter from Rs 27.05 crore in the year-ago period. Unitech's consolidated net debt stood at Rs 5,421 crore as on December 31, 2012.

"There has been a significant scale up in construction activity in the recent months and the worker strength at sites reached an all-time high recently. The company is focused on further ramping the construction activity in the coming months with a view to not only clear the delivery backlog of the older projects but also commence delivery of finished product in some new projects, “ Unitech’s Managing Director Sanjay Chandra said.

He further said the company would try to maximise price realisation, improve sales and reduce the risk of delay in delivery through optimal timing of project launches and selling product over the life cycle of a project.

During the first nine months of this fiscal, Unitech said it has achieved sales bookings of 4.41 million sq ft and launched projects totalling an area of 3.38 million sq ft. The residential sales bookings stood at 4.09 million sq ft worth Rs 1,785 crore, while the commercial sales bookings were 0.32 million sq ft valued at Rs 429 crore, the statement added.