- Best ever annual pre-sales of Rs. 14,000+ cr.
- Highest ever annual India pre-sales of INR 9,024Cr., +51% YoY; best ever quarterly pre-sales of Rs3,456 cr
- UK projects achieved best ever annual pre-sales performance at GBP 531mn (Rs5,000+cr.)
- India Net Debt down to INR 9,300 crores
- Strong Adjusted EBITDA margin for the quarter at ~36%; PAT margin at ~16%
Lodha, India’s No. 1* real estate developer, announced its financial results for the
quarter ended March 31, 2022. Company reported its best ever quarterly & annual pre-sales performance as well as very strong margins. For the quarter ended March’22, Lodha had 37% yoy growth in pre-sales and 36% growth in collections compared to Q4FY21.
Operational & Financial Overview
• India Pre-sales: Q4FY22 at INR 3,456 crores (up 37% YoY), FY22 at INR 9,024 crores (+51% YoY)
• UK Pre-sales: Q4FY22 at GBP 173mn (INR ~1,730 crores), FY22 at GBP 531mn (INR ~5,300 crores)
• Revenues from ops.: Q4FY22 at INR 3,445 crores (up 36% YoY), FY22 at INR 9,233 crores (+69% YoY)
• Adjusted EBITDA: Q4FY22 at INR 1,230 crores (up 33% YoY), FY22 at INR 3,243 crores (+111% YoY)
• PAT adjusted for forex: Q4FY22 at INR 573 crores (97% YoY), FY22 at INR 1,262 crores (+271% YoY)
Commenting on the performance, Abhishek Lodha, MD & CEO, Macrotech Developers Ltd. said, “We are extremely pleased to report our best ever quarterly and annual pre-sales performance. It’s a true testimony of the strong brand and the consumer trust that it inspires. On the ground demand for quality housing remains very strong. With each passing quarter, demand only strengthens on the back of rising consumer confidence on the strong real estate brands on the back of growing economy and per capita income. All the segments of portfolio are showing strong interest from consumers.
We delivered India pre-sales at INR 9,024 crores for FY22 thus meeting our guidance, despite disruption due to Covid second wave in Apr-May’21 as well as impact of Omicron in Jan’22. Our ‘for-sale’ part of the business outperformed our annual guidance by registering a 57% yoy growth.
The growth journey of Indian housing market on the back of rising incomes and favorable demography has just begun. Industry after several years has entered into a positive price-demand cycle enabling conversion of latent demand into actual sales in a shorter time frame. We are very confident of achieving around 25% CAGR growth in pre-sales over medium term. Our JDA strategy will enable us to achieve this growth in a very capital light
manner. Our brand, sales & marketing abilities as well as our ability to quickly monetize any land asset continue to make landowners prefer Lodha for maximizing their land value. This has enabled us to sign up 11 JDAs for nearly INR 15,000 cr. GDV during FY22. We expect to maintain this run-rate of new project additions through JDAs.
We are also pleased with the performance of our UK investments which continue to outperform our business plan. This has enabled us to pre-pay USD 170 million of the USD bonds a year ahead of its scheduled maturity. The remaining outstanding of USD 55 million will be paid out of receivables from already sold units. Our debt reduction plans will get accelerated as our investment in the UK is repatriated back starting FY23.”
During the quarter, company continued its de-leveraging journey alongside showing superlative business growth. Net debt came down sharply through organic means to INR ~9,300 crores thus surpassing the full year guidance for FY22. Reflecting the improved financials and balance sheet of the company as well as strong growth prospects, Crisil rated the company to ‘A/ Stable’. This rating is a 2 notch upgrade from Lodha’s previous rating
– BBB+ by India Ratings. Company also was able to bring down interest costs significantly. Our average cost of debt has come down to from 12.3% in Mar’21 to 10.5% in Mar’22 with new borrowings already happening below 9%. The downward trajectory in interest costs is expected to continue even in FY23.
Lodha is committed to becoming a ‘net zero emission’ company by 2035 and is making rapid progress in achieving this goal ahead of time. Lodha was ranked amongst the top 13% of real estate companies for its ESG practices by S&P in 2021 and aims to be a global leader in ESG in the real estate industry. During the quarter, company committed to set decarbonization targets with Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi), within 2022. We
have brought all our under-construction residential projects within the ambit of Green Certifications and have registered residential projects with a cumulative scale of ~15mn sqft with IGBC in the year FY22. With this, the entire portfolio of the company – commercial, residential and digital infra – will be green certified.
Also Read: Lodha: Record breaking annual sales of Rs 14k crores+
On covid front, company has extended our vaccination programs for booster doses as well as to eligible children of our employees. We have also started Lodha Brain Gain Scholars Program – a country-wide initiative through scholarships, mentoring & development program to support the best and brightest minds to achieve their full potential.
