Indiabulls Real Estate cuts net debt by Rs 552 crore this fiscal

The company is reducing its debt through internal accruals as it is reportedly generating positive cash-flow

Indiabulls Real Estate Ltd (IBREL) has trimmed its net debt by about Rs 550 crore in the first nine months of this fiscal, while the company achieved sales bookings of Rs 733 crore in the quarter ended December.

According to an investor presentation, IBREL's net debt reduced by Rs 225 crore to Rs 4,928 crore at the end of the December quarter of this fiscal.

"Net debt reduced by Rs 225 crore in the last quarter, total reduction in net debt during the first nine months of FY16 is Rs 552 crore," it said.

IBREL is reducing the debt with the help of internal accruals as the company is generating positive cash-flow.

The company said it would further reduce the net debt by about Rs 130 crore in the current quarter.

“Further, net debt reduction of Rs 130 crore planned and expected in last quarter of current financial year, to achieve the target net debt of Rs 4,800 crore as on 31st March, 2016," the presentation said.

The Mumbai-based developer has set a target of Rs 1,500 crore reduction in net debt to Rs 3,300 crore by March 2017.

The company plans to launch two new projects, having a total saleable area of 7.29 million sq ft.

"5.06 million sq ft of saleable residential area and 2.23 million sq ft of saleable commercial area in NCR," the presentation said.

Last week, IBREL reported a 2 per cent increase in its consolidated net profit at Rs 80.44 crore for the December quarter against Rs 78.75 crore in the year ago period.

Income from operations rose to Rs 664.36 crore during the quarter under review as against Rs 652.11 crore in the corresponding period.

However, total income declined to Rs 681.48 crore in the third quarter of the current fiscal from Rs 728.79 crore in the year-ago period. The other income fell to Rs 17.11 crore from Rs 76.67 crore during the period under review.

IBREL is currently developing 11 projects in India with total saleable area of 30.51 million sq ft. It has presence in Mumbai, NCR and Chennai.

The company has entered the London market through acquisition of 22, Hanover Square in Mayfair, Central London, a 87,444 sq ft commercial property.