DLF's net debt up Rs 791cr; stake sale in rental arm on track

Realty firm DLF's net debt rose by nearly Rs 800 crore in January-March quarter of the last fiscal to cross Rs 22,000 crore due to slowdown in real estate sector.
DLF, the country's largest realty firm, said it expects to get expression of interest from the potential investors from June onwards to acquire promoters' 40 per cent stake in its rental arm DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL) for an estimated Rs 12,000-14,000 crore.
According to an analyst presentation, DLF's net debt stood at Rs 22,202 crore at the end of March quarter of the last fiscal as against Rs 21,411 crore as on December 31, 2015.

Out of total debt, the net debt attributed to DCCDL is Rs 12,325 crore.
"The company's debt has increased due to Rs 350-400 crore in operating cash flow and dividend payment," DLF's Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Ashok Tyagi said.
On the proposed divestment of promoters' stake in DCCDL, he said, "We are satisfied with the progress on this proposed transaction. We circulated memorandum of information to potential investors last month and we expect that expression on interest to start coming in from June onwards."

In the presentation, DLF said that the intent of the transaction is to create a platform partnership with long term institutional investors to own and develop commercial assets.

"Grow the commercial business, organically and inorganically, and target high equity returns for the shareholders; it shall be a precursor to setting up of REIT's (Real Estate Investment Trust) in the medium term," it added.
The deal will be an important step to "create two 'pure plays' - residential business with zero debt and an independent commercial business".
Yesterday, DLF reported a 23 per cent decline in its consolidated net profit for the quarter ended March to Rs 132.39 crore against Rs 171.62 crore in the year-ago period.
Income from operation rose by 20 per cent to Rs 2,335.56 crore in the fourth quarter of last fiscal from Rs 1,935.69 crore in the corresponding quarter of the previous year.

For the full 2015-16 fiscal, net profit rose to Rs 549.39 crore from Rs 540.24 crore in the previous year. Income from operations rose by 21 per cent to Rs 9,259.86 crore for the year.