New Delhi: Realty firm Macrotech Developers has sold properties worth Rs 3,000 crore during April-September on better demand, and looks to double its sales bookings in the second half to reach the Rs 9,000 crore target this fiscal year, a top company official said. Mumbai-based Macrotech Developers, one of the leading real estate developers in the country, markets its properties under 'Lodha' brand. In an interview with PTI, Macrotech Developers MD and CEO Abhishek Lodha said sales bookings in July-September jumped over two times to Rs 2,003 crore from the previous quarter, taking the total sales bookings to Rs 2,960 crore in the first half of this fiscal year.
"We continue to believe that we will achieve our sales bookings guidance of around Rs 9,000 crore in the 2021-22 financial year," Lodha said. "We need to do Rs 5,000 crore of sales bookings during October-- March period of FY'22 from our residential portfolio. Rs 1,000 crore will come from non-regular sales-- monetisation of commercial and warehousing properties," he said. Lodha highlighted that momentum in housing sales has been very-very strong since June, helping the company to achieve a record Q2 sales bookings of over Rs 2,000 crore. "People now want to buy good homes with better amenities. This shift in demand towards quality products is helping companies like ours," he observed.
Macrotech Developers, which got listed on the stock exchanges in April after raising Rs 2,500 crore through its initial public offering (IPO), focuses only on Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune markets. "Regular sales bookings of Rs 2,500 crore each in the current and next quarter are achievable, considering we did Rs 2,000 crore sales in Q2, when demand generally tends to remain low because of the monsoon season in Mumbai and Pitru-Paksha," Lodha said. Macrotech Developers' sales bookings stood at Rs 5,970 crore during the last fiscal year. Bullish on the outlook for housing demand, Lodha expects robust sales during the current quarter on strong festive demand and very low interest rates on home loans.
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He said the company is focusing on sustainable development, by reducing carbon footprints and expanding green covers across all its projects, to cater to the aspirations of prospective homebuyers. "Home ownership concept has gained importance since the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. There is a good interest in good quality products," he mentioned. To encash pent-up as well as fresh demand, Macrotech plans to launch 5 million square feet of projects in this fiscal.
Asked about debt, Lodha said the company's debt is at around Rs 12,500 crore, which will be reduced to about Rs 10,000 crore by end of this fiscal year as per the guidance. On London business, he said the company achieved a sales bookings of Rs 1,450 crore in the September quarter. "We were earlier expecting to recieve Rs 1,500-2,000 crore from our London business by FY'24. With improved sales, the return on investment could be faster. We will wait for another quarter to give any fresh guidance," he said.
Macrotech Developers, earlier named as Lodha Developers, had made a foray into the London market in 2013 with the acquisition of the landmark MacDonald House at 1 Grosvenor Square in prime Central London from the Canadian government for over GBP 300 million (Rs 3,100 crore). The group acquired another site in prime Central London, New Court at 48 Carey Street for 90 million pounds in 2014.
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