Unitech Q3 profit down by 61 pc at Rs 32.82 cr

Realty firm Unitech today reported a 61 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 32.82 crore for the quarter ended December due to sharp rise in finance cost and other expenses.
The Gurgaon-based company had posted a net profit of Rs 84.16 crore in the year-ago period.
Net sales, however, rose by 13 per cent to Rs 731.67 crore in October-December quarter of this fiscal from Rs 644.71 crore in the corresponding period of previous year, Unitech said in a statement.
Net profit has declined because of sharp jump in finance cost which increased to Rs 28.06 crore from Rs 8.39 crore. Total expenses have also risen to Rs 715.76 crore during the third quarter from Rs 543.76 crore in the year ago period.

"Company has a healthy balance sheet with a net debt to equity ratio of 0.54. Net debt as of December 31, 2013, was Rs 6,299.19 crore," Unitech said.
Commenting on the result, Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra said: "Company resumed launch of new projects during the quarter and launched over 4 million sq ft of new projects. These launches helped company achieve a sequential growth of about 33 per cent in sales bookings in a sluggish market."
The delivery of completed projects also picked up during the quarter and the company delivered 0.76 million sq ft in Q3 as against 0.56 million sq ft in Q2.

During April-December period, Unitech achieved sales bookings of 1.74 million sq ft at an average realisation of Rs 6,147 per sq ft. Total value of sales bookings stood at Rs 1,071 crore.