Unitech Q1 sales bookings double to Rs 362 crore

The company sold 0.23 million sq ft area for Rs 178 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year

Realty firm Unitech Ltd's sales bookings doubled to Rs 362 crore during the quarter ended June 30, compared with the year-ago period, on higher volumes in the commercial segment.

According to a latest operational update, Unitech sold 2 million sq ft of area for Rs 362 crore during the first quarter of the current financial year.

The company had sold 0.23 million sq ft area for Rs 178 crore in the corresponding period of the previous financial year.

Of the total bookings for the June quarter, the commercial segment, comprising institutional plots and office space, contributed Rs 281 crore, while the housing sales stood at Rs 81 crore.

The bulk of the sales bookings were achieved in Gurgaon at Rs 306 crore.

Unitech launched 1.75 million sq ft of area, all in Gurgaon, during the first quarter of this financial year, according to a presentation. "2.35 million sq ft area delivered during first quarter of FY 2016-17," it added.

Home buyers have filed cases in courts against Unitech for significant delay in execution of housing projects.

"Company's focus is firmly on completing and delivering the ongoing projects in an expeditious manner," Unitech Managing Director Ajay Chandra had said in a recent statement.

"Towards this end, company has been continuously engaging with its customers, bankers and local administration to create project specific escrow mechanisms to ensure that the balance payments received from the customers of a project are utilised only for completion of that project," he had said.

Recently, the Delhi High Court directed the company to create escrow mechanisms for all its projects wherein 100% of the collections from the customers are to be retained in the escrow and utilised exclusively for that project, Chandra had said.

Unitech plans to raise about Rs 300 crore from financial institutions and sale of land parcels to complete 41 pending housing projects comprising 13,000 flats within the next two years.

The company said it needs Rs 2,700 crore to complete these projects while the receivables from the customers is about Rs 4,000 crore.

Last week, Unitech reported that consolidated net loss narrowed to Rs 43.18 crore for the June quarter. It had posted a net loss of Rs 279.45 crore in the corresponding quarter of previous financial year.

Total income rose to Rs 487.88 crore in the first quarter as compared to Rs 381.43 crore in the same period previous year. As of 30th June, the consolidated net debt was Rs 5,265 crore.