DLF to raise Rs 3,500 cr via office-asset backed securities

Realty giant DLF plans to raise upto Rs 3,500 crore this fiscal through issue of securities backed by commercial assets, after successfully raking in Rs 525 crore via India's first commercial mortgage backed securities (CMBS).
"We plan to have 3 more properties under CMBS. We are targeting to raise another Rs 3,000-3,500 crore through CMBS," DLF Executive Director Finance Saurabh Chawla said.
Chawla said the three properties under proposed CMBS would be office buildings and not retail malls of the country's largest realty firm.
In an analyst call, Chawla, however, said the new Companies Act makes it far more difficult to bring such products.

The new offerings would be over and above the Rs 525 crore already raised and another issue of Rs 375 crore in the pipeline backed by another mall in Delhi 'DLF Promenade'.
On May 23, DLF had said it raised Rs 525 crore through CMBS backed by luxury shopping mall 'DLF Emporio' in the national capital. The CMBS carries a coupon rate of 10.9 per cent.

In an analyst presentation, DLF said it would continue to focus on opportunities to improve quality and tenure of debt such as through issuance of CMBS etc.
DLF's net debt stood at Rs 18,526 crore as on March 31, 2014 -- a drop of Rs 1,400 crore from Rs 19,926 crore at the end of the December 2013 quarter.

The company's finance cost stood at nearly Rs 2,500 crore last fiscal.
In CMBS, funds available with the issuer during the tenure of the instrument are higher than lease rental-discounting loans from banks. These loans have a structure where principal repayment is amortised, while CMBS will have a bullet repayment.
Yesterday, DLF reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 219.68 crore for the quarter ended March, 2014 on the back of gains from sale of hotel chain Amanresorts. It had registered a net loss of Rs 4.19 crore in the year-ago period.