DLF targets Rs 3,500 crore sales booking this fiscal

India's largest realty firm DLF is expecting about Rs 3,500 crore sales booking in this fiscal, lower than last year, due to slowdown in property market.
Its sales booking stood at Rs 4,070 crore in 2013-14.
In a conference call with analysts, DLF also announced its plans to raise upto Rs 3,500 crore via issue of securities backed by an IT SEZ as part of strategy to replace costlier debt, which currently stands at over Rs 19,000 crore.
"Sales volume in most geographies shall continue at a moderate pace similar to last year. We are looking at sales bookings of Rs 3,000-3,500 crore this year," DLF Executive Director (Finance) Saurabh Chawla said in a conference call.

He, however, said the company might revise guidance after the second quarter if sales volume rises as enquiries have increased on the back of improved sentiment.
"There has been improvement in sentiments and enquiries," Last year, we had a good first half year and bad second half. Hopefully, it will be reverse this year," DLF CFO Ashok Tyagi told analysts.

On Commercial Mortgage Backed Securities (CMBS), Chawla said the company would raise Rs 3,000-3,500 crore through this process backed by a large IT SEZ.
In the first quarter, DLF had completed the first CMBS issue in India. It privately placed CMBS of DLF Emporio and DLF Promenade to raise Rs 900 crore.

DLF also announced it would "shortly" spell out mechanism for the conversion of Compulsorily Convertible Preference Shares (CCPS) held by its promoters as the deadline for same is March 2015.
CCPS have to be converted into ordinary shares after a predetermined date.
Asked about conversion of CCPS held by promoters, DLF CFO Tyagi said: "Hopefully, shortly we should see some news on this front...We are consulting experts...Very shortly, we should be able to tell the strategy and mechanism".
DLF CFO said the CCPS instrument carries a coupon rate of 9 per cent and is due for conversion in March 2015.

Post conversion of CCPS in equity shares, DLF promoters will have 40 per cent economic interest in DLF's commercial arm DLF Cyber City, Tyagi said.
In late 2009, DLF had announced merger of its subsidiary DLF Cyber City Developers with promoters firm Caraf Builders & Constructions, the holding company of DLF Assets Pvt Ltd.
It has also said that post merger, DLF would have 60 per cent stake in DLF Cyber City and the residual 40 per cent economic interest would be held by the shareholders of Caraf.
DLF Cyber City Developers had then issued CCPS worth Rs 1,597 crore to the promoters.

On future projects, Tyagi said the company would bring more projects in Gurgaon of lower ticket size and also launch the second phase of its housing project in the national capital.