Realty firm Macrotech to launch housing projects worth Rs 12,000 cr by Mar

Realty firm Macrotech Developers Ltd plans to launch housing projects worth Rs 12,000 crore by March next year to tap strong consumer demand for quality homes from branded players, its MD and CEO Abhishek Lodha said on Monday.

With 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.

Macrotech Developers, which sells properties under 'Lodha' brand, has already achieved sales bookings of Rs 6,890 crore during the first six months of this fiscal.

In an interview with PTI, Lodha said the company's operational performance during the first six months of the current 2023-24 fiscal was very strong in terms of sales bookings, collections from customers and new business development, which means acquiring new land parcels through outright and joint ventures.

The company launched 3.7 million square feet of area during the first six months of this fiscal

"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 the FY'24 and 80 per cent of our business development guidance and our embedded EBIDTA margin remains strong at 30 per cent," Lodha said.

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

"We plan to launch 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, adding that the company would be launching its first project in Bengaluru during this month.

The company's MD and CEO noted that the demand would sustain, with real estate sector being in third year of its long term up-cyle of at least 15 years. He said the interest rates on home loans have peaked and is expected to moderate.

Lodha also highlighted that the company is focusing a lot on sustainable development across all its projects.

On ESG (environment, sustainable and governance) performance, Lodha said the company was ranked first amongst residential developers in Asia by GRESB, while it was ranked second by S&P Global 2023 Corporate Sustainability Assessment (CSA) out of about 200 global real estate development companies.

On Saturday, Macrotech Developers reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 202.8 crore in the July-September 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 the 2023-24 fiscal from Rs 1,761.2 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

In the July-September period, Lodha said the company achieved best-ever quarterly pre-sales performance at Rs 3,530 crore, showing 12 per cent YoY (year-on-year) growth in spite of the quarter being the seasonally weakest.

"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.

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