Godrej Properties' sales bookings up 44% in Apr-Sep

Godrej Properties' sales bookings rose 44 per cent to Rs 2,343 crore during the first half of the ongoing financial year on higher volumes despite a slowdown in the housing segment.

The company had sold properties worth Rs 1,627 crore in the year-ago period.

"79 per cent year-on-year growth in value of sales booking for Q2 FY'20 to Rs 1,446 crore and 44 per cent year-on-year growth in value of sales booking for H1 FY20 to Rs 2,343 crore," Godrej Properties said in an investors presentation.

Out of the total sales bookings, Rs 2,329 crore pertained to the housing segment and the remaining Rs 14 crore to commercial space.

In volume terms, sales bookings rose 61 per cent to 3.6 million sq ft in April-September 2019 from 2.23 million sq ft in the corresponding period of the previous year.

Godrej Properties, which is the real estate arm of the business conglomerate Godrej group, launched nine new projects/phases in the first half of 2019-20.

Elaborating on sales performance, Godrej Properties said it sold housing properties worth Rs 310 crore in its project 'Godrej South Estate' launched in September in the national capital region.

Similarly, it sold properties worth Rs 253 crore in the project 'Godrej Hillside 1' at Pune.

On the financial front, the company's net debt rose to Rs 1,089 crore as on September 30, 2019, from Rs 932 crore at the end of the June quarter.

Last week, Godrej Properties reported a 50 per cent increase in consolidated net profit at Rs 31 crore for the quarter ended September, while total income declined 22 per cent to Rs 370 crore.

The company's net profit more than doubled to Rs 120.67 crore in the first six months of 2019-20 from Rs 54.87 crore in the year-ago period, while income fell to Rs 1,108.95 crore from Rs 1,553.8 crore.

"The overall environment in the real estate sector remains challenging. This provides Godrej Properties with tremendous opportunity to drive market share growth in residential real estate. We expect strong momentum in both portfolio project additions and new project launches in H2 FY'20," said Pirojsha Godrej, Executive Chairman, Godrej Properties.

Established in 1990, Godrej Properties has successfully delivered over 20 million sq ft of real estate in the past five years. It has about 175 million sq ft of the developable area across India.