Macrotech Developers exploring to enter Delhi-NCR housing mkt: MD Lodha

Realty firm Macrotech Developers is exploring entry into the Delhi-NCR's residential market as part of its strategy to grow the company's business beyond Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), Pune and Bengaluru, its Managing Director Abhishek Lodha has said.

Macrotech Developers, which markets its properties under the Lodha brand, is one of the leading real estate developers in the country.

"We are exploring to enter Delhi-NCR housing market," he told PTI in an interview.

The company is looking to acquire lands, either outright or joint development agreement with landowners, he added.

Macrotech Developers has already bought a land parcel in Delhi-NCR to develop industrial and logistics parks and is now looking at entering the housing business.

After establishing a significant presence in both MMR and Pune housing markets, Macrotech Developers had in 2022 entered Bengaluru.

The company has already launched two housing projects in Bengaluru and plans to launch three more in the IT city.

Macrotech Developers do a few pilot projects in any new city it enters, before expanding in a big way.

Delhi-NCR, one of the biggest housing markets in India, has been attracting real estate developers from South and West India. Prestige Group, Birla Estate, Sobha, Oberoi Realty, and Shapoorji Pallonji Real Estate are among the prominent builders who have entered Delhi-NCR.

On the performance during this 2024-25 fiscal, Lodha said the company achieved a record pre-sales (sales bookings) of Rs 4,510 crore, up 32 per cent annually.

With this, the company has achieved pre-sales of Rs 12,820 crore till December in the current fiscal, showing a 25 per cent year-on-year growth.

Lodha expressed confidence that the company will easily achieve the annual pre-sales target of Rs 17,500 crore this fiscal.

Macrotech Developer has reduced its net debt by 12 per cent in the December quarter to Rs 4,320 crore on better internal cash flows, as the company achieved strong pre-sales, he said.

Net debt of the company stood at Rs 4,930 crore at the end of the September quarter of this fiscal.

Lodha said that the company has added many land parcels across the MMR, Pune and Bengaluru during the first nine months of this fiscal year. These land parcels have an estimated revenue potential of more than Rs 19,000 crore.

In new business development, Lodha said the company has almost achieved 90 per cent of its full-year target of Rs 21,000 crore.

"And in spite of significant business development, because of the strong operating performance, our net debt went down by about Rs 600 crore. We now have about Rs 4,300 crores of net debt with a debt equity ratio of 0.22," Lodha said.

Recently, Macrotech Developers reported an 88 per cent increase in consolidated net profit to Rs 944.4 crore for the quarter ended December from Rs 503.3 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income rose to Rs 4,146.6 crore in the third quarter of this fiscal, from Rs 2,958.7 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding year.

During the April-December period of the 2024-25 fiscal, the company's net profit more than doubled to Rs 1,842.6 crore, from Rs 883.6 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Total income rose to Rs 9,749.5 crore in the first nine months of this fiscal, from Rs 6,385.6 crore in the corresponding period of the preceding year.

Macrotech Developers has delivered around 100 million square feet of real estate and is currently developing more than 110 million square feet under its on-going and planned portfolio.