Unitech sales bookings down 38% at Rs 663 cr during Apr-Dec

Delhi-NCR contributed about Rs 455 cr of sales bookings

Realty firm Unitech's sales bookings dropped by 38 per cent to Rs 663 crore in the first nine months of the current financial year due to slowdown in housing demand. The Gurgaon-based firm had achieved sales bookings of Rs 1,071 crore in the April-December period of the last financial year.

According to company's operational update, Unitech has sold 1.1 million sq ft for a value of Rs 663 crore during the April-December period. The average realisation stood at Rs 6,027 per sq ft.

Delhi-NCR contributed about Rs 455 crore of sales bookings. Out of Rs 663 crore sales bookings in the first nine months of this financial year, Rs 307 crore were in housing and the remaining Rs 356 crore in the non-residential segment. Unitech launched 0.6 million sq ft while delivered 3 million sq ft area in the first three quarters of this financial year.

Last week, the company had reported a 32 per cent per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 43.3 crore for the quarter ended December 2014 due to lower operational expenses and interest outgo. Its net profit stood at Rs 32.8 crore in the corresponding period a year earlier.

Income from operations, however, declined to Rs 704.56 crore in the third quarter of this fiscal from Rs 731.67 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Total expenditure fell to Rs 661 crore from Rs 716 crore during the period under review. Finance costs declined to Rs 7.33 crore from Rs 28.06 crore in the year-ago period.

Unitech had said it has a healthy balance sheet with a net debt to equity ratio of 0.57. Net debt as of December 31, 2014 was Rs 6,300.84 crore.

"Demand for residential space continues to be sluggish and it may take a few more quarters for the demand to revive.

The company has been taking measures over the last few quarters to deal with this challenging environment and these have begun to bear fruit," Unitech MD Sanjay Chandra had said.