Godrej Properties cuts net debt by Rs 700 cr in Sept qtr

Godrej Properties Ltd has cut its net debt by 25 per cent to nearly Rs 2,200 crore during the quarter ended September, helped by a big-ticket deal where it sold large office space in Mumbai for Rs 1,479 crore.
The Mumbai-based developer plans to further reduce the debt by monetising the commercial assets in Mumbai, Kolkata and Chandigarh, its MD & CEO Pirojsha Godrej said.
On the back of BKC deal, he said the company has achieved a sales booking of over Rs 3,200 crore in the first half of this fiscal, crossing the Rs 2,681 crore sales booking in the entire 2014-15 fiscal.

Godrej Properties, the realty arm of the Godrej Group, had in September sold 4.35 lakh sq ft office space to Abbott India in 'Godrej BKC' project at Bandra Kulra Complex (BKC), Mumbai.
"Our net debt has come down by about 25 per cent to Rs 2,200 crore during September quarter from about Rs 2,900 crore at the end of the June quarter," Godrej told PTI when asked about the debt position.
The company has about 3 lakh sq ft of office space left in the BKC project and about a million sq ft of commercial space in Kolkata and Chandigarh, he said, adding that the company is targeting to sell these area over the next 12 months.

On operational front, Godrej said the company would launch 7-8 projects, including new phase in the existing projects, during the second half of this fiscal.

He said the company would add more projects in existing locations through joint development agreements. "We are looking for projects in Noida in the Delhi-NCR market".
Asked about sales bookings, Godrej said the company has achieved highest ever sales in a single quarter with booking value of Rs 1,957 crore.
"Our sales bookings in the first six months of the current fiscal stood at about Rs 3,200 crore and have already crossed the sales in entire 2014-15," he said, but refused to give guidance for the full 2015-16 financial year.

Godrej Properties last week reported more than two-fold jump in consolidated profit at Rs 106 crore for the quarter ended September against Rs 47 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income increased more than four times to Rs 1,481 crore during the July-September quarter compared to Rs 307 crore in the year-ago period.