Unitech posts Rs 51.55 cr loss in Q4; sales up 22 pc

Realty firm Unitech today reported Rs 51.55 crore consolidated loss for the quarter ended March, dragged down by the provision to write off Rs 103.02 crore investment in its erstwhile telecom business.
It posted a net profit of Rs 30.33 crore in the year-ago period, Unitech said in a statement.
However, net sales increased by 22 per cent to Rs 1,033.31 crore in the fourth quarter of last fiscal against Rs 848.25 crore in the corresponding period of previous year.
"Profit after tax from ordinary activities stood at Rs 42.69 crore (in Q4). During the quarter, the company made a provision of Rs 103.02 crore towards diminution in value of its investment in wireless business. Net loss for the quarter, therefore, was Rs 51.55 crore," Unitech said.

In October 2012, Unitech exited from the telecom joint venture with Telenor by selling its entire 32.75 per cent stake to the Norwegian firm.
The company had written off a similar amount during the 2012-13 fiscal as well. The total investment of Unitech in the telecom business was about Rs 900 crore.

For 2013-14 fiscal, Unitech net profit declined sharply to Rs 69.74 crore from Rs 209.56 crore in the previous year.
Total income from operations rose to Rs 2,933.31 crore during last fiscal from Rs 2,440.53 crore in 2012-13.
Unitech's consolidated net debt as of March 31, 2014 was Rs 6,316 crore. Net debt to equity ratio stood at 0.55.

The company achieved a sales bookings of 2.33 million sq ft and the total value of sales bookings stood at Rs 1,502 crore during the last fiscal.
Commenting on the results, Unitech Managing Director Sanjay Chandra said: "The year gone by has been a very challenging year for the real estate sector. While on the one hand, demand for housing was sluggish for most part of the year, on the other hand, construction and financing costs continued to rise".
"In this environment, company's focus was primarily on ensuring that the construction activity at its ongoing projects didn't suffer while managing a tight cash flow situation," he added.

Chandra expected the new government to give a major thrust to the development of housing and urban infrastructure creating new opportunities for real estate companies.
"Going forward, company is gearing itself to benefit from the widely expected improvement in the economic environment by undertaking various initiatives aimed at balance sheet strengthening, enhancing project execution capacity and boosting sales capabilities. Speeding up delivery of finished product is our key priority for the coming year," he added.
Shares of Unitech closed 6 per cent up at Rs 27.95 apiece on the BSE.