DLF's Debt Reduced by 38 pc

Realty major DLF reduced its net debt by 38 per cent during the fourth quarter of last fiscal to Rs 4,483 crore with the help of funds raised from selling shares to institutional investors.

According to an investors presentation, DLF's net debt has come down "from Rs 7,224 crore in Q3 of FY19 to Rs 4,483 crore in Q4 of FY19".

In March, DLF raised Rs 3,173 crore by selling shares to institutional investors through its qualified institutional placement (QIP) offer. The company had offered 17.3 crore shares to investors at an issue price of Rs 183.40 per share.

DLF's net net debt would further come down during the current quarter with likely infusion of Rs 2,250 crore into the company by promoters.

In December 2017, the promoters had infused Rs 9,000 crore into the company and promised to pump in Rs 2,250 crore more.

The fund infusion was after they sold their entire stake in DLF's rental arm DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL) for Rs 11,900 crore.

This big-ticket deal included the sale of a 33.34 per cent stake in the DCCDL to Singapore's sovereign wealth fund GIC for Rs 8,900 crore and buyback of remaining shares worth Rs 3,000 crore by DCCDL.

Against this infusion, DLF had issued compulsorily convertible debentures and warrants to promoters entities.

According to the presentation, DLF is targeting a 10 per cent increase in sales bookings in the current 2019-20 fiscal year at around Rs 2,700 crore, on hopes of increase in housing demand.

Sales bookings of the company more than doubled to Rs 2,435 crore in 2018-19 from Rs 1,000 crore in the previous year.

The company is "targeting sales of Rs 2,700 crore in 2019-20 (i.E 10 per cent increase over 2018-19)," DLF said in an analyst presentation.

DLF has an unsold inventory of around Rs 11,650 crore, it added.

"The company continued to see good sales in the residential segment. We have started monetising our ready-to-occupy inventory across the country in the premium and luxury segments," DLF said.

The company is now gearing towards the next cycle of development and is planning to build 17 million sq ft of residential and commercial space in the near future.

Earlier this week, DLF reported a 76 per cent jump in consolidated net profit to Rs 436.56 crore for March quarter from Rs 247.73 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income rose to Rs 2,660.95 crore as compared with Rs 1,845.92 crore in the year-ago period.

For entire 2018-19, net profit declined to Rs 1,319.22 crore from Rs 4,463.86 crore in the previous fiscal. The drop in profit was because of exceptional gain from sales of rental business in 2017-18.