 "Harmohan Sahni, chief executive officer (CEO), Raymond Realty")
Raymond Limited’s real estate arm, Raymond Realty, plans to get listed during the second quarter of the next financial year (Q2FY26), according to Harmohan Sahni, chief executive officer (CEO), Raymond Realty.
“We are expecting the order by June-July 2025 as far as the National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) is concerned. The listing should happen sometime between August-September next year, according to our current estimates,” Sahni said.
In an interaction with Business Standard, Sahni said the company does not need to raise additional capital for the next 18 to 24 months and that it is “sitting on a pile of cash in this business currently.”
It recently bagged the No Objection Certificate (NOC) from the stock exchanges for the demerger of its real estate business.
Currently, the company has assets with a gross development value (GDV) of Rs 32,000 crore across Thane and the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). Sahni noted the company is actively scouting for opportunities in Pune.
The company’s business model is led by the joint development agreement (JDA) projects, as it is banking on the redevelopment market.
“Our stated intent is to look at JDA. It's a land-sourcing strategy at the end of the day.”
The company believes the model aligns with its skill set and strengths.
“We believe we are good at relationship management, delivering on all our promises that we make to our partners, which are the two key ingredients needed for JDAs," Sahni said.
Sahni informed that the area of non-owned JDAs over the original land will keep on growing.
“We are adding almost Rs 5,000-7,000 crore of GDV every year at the minimum; in a good year it can go up to Rs 10,000 crore,” he added.
According to Sahni, the company has already hit almost the 35-40 per cent mark for JDAs in terms of GDV. “In the next two years, there will be a lot of growth coming from the larger MMR and a little from Pune, because we are just beginning in Pune; it will take some time to build it up.”
In FY24, Raymond Realty’s pre-sales stood at Rs 2,000 crore, Sahni said.
“We have promised an annual growth of 20 per cent at the minimum, and we have clear visibility of that for the next two years for sure. It is kind of locked in. Apart from margins being minimum 20 per cent, growth rate also should be minimum 20 per cent on top line and bottom line.”
“The whole idea is to under promise and over deliver. Currently, all our efforts and the work that we are putting in are going towards year three, year four, and year five to ensure that the same trajectory continues,” Sahni noted.
According to Sahni, the company is low on inventory and is in a hurry to launch new projects. Earlier, it launched stock worth Rs 10,500 crore in the market and managed to sell units worth Rs 7,500 to 8,000 crore.
Within Raymond Group, its real estate business is the second largest contributor to the top line and the bottom line. Sahni believes that the growth has been quick. “The view in the group is that real estate has to be one of the mainstay businesses of the group going forward. "
Sahni is estimating the revenue of Raymond Realty to be close to the group’s mainline lifestyle business in the next four-five years.
In Q2 FY25, Raymond Realty’s revenue stood at Rs 571 crore, while Raymond Lifestyle reported revenue of Rs 1,315.48 crore from its operations.
Even after the demerger, Sahni aims to continue with the same strategies.
“We are very boring people. We will continue to do the same thing. We do not want to do anything exciting. Boring is good. As far as the growth rate and profitability are concerned, we are achieving it; everything else has to be boring,” he explained.
On the company’s commercial real estate ambitions, Sahni said the company is not looking beyond residential except some high-street retail for now.
Sahni stated the company is just waiting for the market to mature.
“It has to meet our financial criteria. It is early days for us in commercial real estate. We are a few years away before we can start building assets on the balance sheet. But we are also not saying no to it; it's somewhere in the future for us," he elaborated.
Speaking on the company’s expansion plans, Sahni said that the emphasis would remain on the MMR and Pune for the next 3-4 years.
“Once we are fully established and we have a large market share here, then we would try to look at other markets. We should get at least a 10 per cent market share in these markets. It will take years to reach there because these are very large markets,” he added.
Sahni stated the company’s focus would remain on the premium to just below the luxury market considering the nature of the markets that the company is looking at. “We don't want to go super luxury and ultra-luxury, nor do we want to go on the low end of the market simply because we believe that we don't have strength there. We want to play to our own strength.”
Sahni is banking on infrastructure development in the company’s target markets, MMR and Pune. He is also expecting the real estate upcycle to last for at least the next 2-3 years.
“Maybe after about a year and a half, we might see some lead indicators in terms of the behaviour of the market with interest rates, new launches, supply built into the system, or prices running away unreasonably, which will indicate the downturn,” he stated.
Despite challenges like high government charges and an increased cost of construction in the sector, Sahni believes Raymond's promised growth rate is achievable.
“Since we are looking 3-5 years ahead, I have enough time. I will use the entire runway of two years so that I get the right deals. I am never in a great hurry, never under pressure to sign commercial terms that are not favourable to us," he added.
Action plan
> Current portfolio GDV of Rs 32,000 crore
> To add Rs 5,000-Rs 7,000 crore of GDV every year
> Aims 20% top line annual growth rate
