Macrotech adds 7 land parcels in H1 to build Rs 14,300 cr housing projects

Looking to expand its business, Macrotech Developers added 7 new land parcels in the Mumbai region and Bengaluru during the April-September period for development of housing projects having sales value of Rs 14,300 crore.

Macrotech Developers, which sells properties under the 'Lodha' brand, added these land parcels through outright purchases and joint ventures with landlords.

In an interview with PTI, Macrotech Developers Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer Abhishek Lodha said the company during the first half of 2023-24 fiscal added multiple land parcels, which have a potential saleable area of 8.3 million square feet with an estimated sales value of Rs 14,300 crore.

"For new business development, we gave a guidance of Rs 17,500 crore for this financial year. We have added new projects that have a gross development value of Rs 14,300 crore. So, we have already achieved more than 80 per cent of our annual target," he said.

Out of seven, six land parcels have been added in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and the one in Bengaluru has a sales potential of Rs 800 crore.

Lodha said the company is in talks with landlords for adding more land parcels to its portfolio mainly across MMR and Pune.

Asked whether the company would revise the guidance upwards, Lodha said, "We will stick to the annual guidance of Rs 17,500 crore" but it will easily exceed the target.

Asked about launches in the first half of 2023-24 and future pipeline, he said the company launched a 3.7 million square feet area worth nearly Rs 4,000 crore in the April-September period.

"We plan to launch an 8 million square feet area in the second half of this fiscal with an estimated sales value of around Rs 12,000 crore," Lodha said.

The company would be launching its first project in Bengaluru during this month, he added.

With a strong launch pipeline, Lodha exuded confidence that the company would easily achieve the Rs 14,500 crore sales booking target fixed for the current fiscal year as against Rs 12,070 crore in the previous year.

It has already achieved sales bookings of Rs 6,890 crore during the first six months of this fiscal.

Lodha said the company's operational performance during the first six months of the current fiscal was very strong in terms of sales bookings, collections from customers and new land acquisitions.

"Our focus as a business is about delivering steady and predictable growth. The first half of this fiscal year shows that we are doing that with consistency. We have achieved 48 per cent of our sales guidance for FY24 and 80 per cent of our business development guidance and our embedded EBIDTA margin remains strong at 30 per cent," Lodha said.

The company's MD and CEO noted that the demand would be sustained, with the real estate sector being in the third year of its long-term up-cycle of at least 15 years.

He said the interest rates on home loans have peaked and are expected to moderate "on the ground demand conditions continue to strengthen on the back of strong affordability and consumer confidence."

"Persistent consumer desire to own quality homes with superior set of amenities from branded developers continues to drive consolidation benefiting branded players like us," Lodha said.

Intense competition among mortgage providers coupled with RBI pause and the expected downward trajectory for the rate cycle in 2024 means that mortgage rates have peaked, he noted.

"Likely reduction in mortgage rate as well as government's affordable housing incentives will act as a further tailwind for the demand especially for the affordable segment where we have a significant presence," Lodha said.

Macrotech Developers posted a consolidated net profit of Rs 202.8 crore in the second quarter of this fiscal.

The company had posted a net loss of Rs 932.9 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income declined marginally to Rs 1,755.1 crore in the July-September period of 2023-24 fiscal from Rs 1,761.2 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Macrotech Developers has delivered around 95 million square feet of real estate and is developing more than 110 million square feet under its ongoing and planned portfolio.