DLF Q3 net profit down 9 pct on lower sales

NEW DELHI (Reuters) - DLF Ltd, India's largest real-estate developer, reported a 9 percent fall in quarterly profit late on Monday, hit by sluggish home sales in Asia's third-largest economy.

The company, which builds homes, offices and shopping malls, said net profit for the October-December quarter fell to 1.32 billion rupees ($21.26 million), from 1.45 billion rupees a year earlier.

    Income from operations fell 5 percent to 19.57 billion rupees, the company said in a statement, adding that it "expects sales volume of residential products to reach normal volumes in the next 12 to 18 months."

    High prices and a slow economic recovery have delayed home buying. But with the inflation easing, the central bank last month cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 7.75 percent - a move that could improve buyer sentiment and revive sales.

    DLF, India's most indebted property company, has also been barred from capital markets by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for failing to disclose key information at the time of the company's record-breaking 2007 market listing.

    The developer, which had net debt of 203.4 billion rupees at end-December, has appealed the SEBI order with India's Securities Appellate Tribunal.

    DLF is also fighting against the country's antitrust watchdog, which has levied a fine of 6.3 billion rupees on the company for alleged anti-competitive practices when selling homes.

($1 = 62.0806 rupees)

(Reporting by Aditi Shah in New Delhi; Editing by Gopakumar Warrier)