Top eight listed developers pare debt by 54% in Q1 FY25, says report

Collective booking value of these 8 real estate developers rose sharply by 234 per cent since 2019

India’s top eight listed real estate developers have collectively trimmed their debt by 54 per cent in the first quarter of the financial year 2024-25 (Q1FY25) against the previous peak in FY19, a fall which could be attributed to impressive rise in booking values over the years.

At the end of Q1FY25, the developers’ collective debt stood at around Rs 20,808 crore, according to research by Anarock Group. At the end of Q4FY19, it was Rs 44,817 crore.

These developers are Sobha Limited, Puravankara Limited, Prestige Estates, Kolte Patil, Mahindra Lifespace Developers Limited, Godrej Properties Limited, DLF Limited, and Macrotech Developers (Lodha Group).

The top developers to witness significant debt reduction were DLF (-165 per cent), Kolte Patil (-107 per cent), and Macrotech Developers (-83 per cent).

Prashant Thakur, regional director and head, research, Anarock Group, said, “Some players even saw their net debt rise in this period. However, these developers also saw a high jump in their booking values over the year. The rise in debt is mainly due to their aggressive expansion across the geographies, many have been on a land-buying spree across cities.”

According to analysis, the developers’ sales revenue also increased during the period.

The net debt decline of the other players is due to the significant jump seen in the booking values over the last few quarters. According to their investor presentations, FY19 saw these top eight listed players with a collective booking value of Rs 27,144 crore, in FY24, it increased to about Rs 90,573 crore, thereby rising by a whopping 234 per cent in this period.

Additionally, Q1FY25 alone witnessed the developers with a collective sales value of Rs 26,832 crore.