Lodha continues to see strong pre-sales momentum, clocks INR 2,814 crores in Q1FY23. 3 new joint development agreements (JDA) across MMR, Pune & Bengaluru added in Q1FY23
with GDV potential of INR ~6,200 crores.
Lodha, developer, reported yet another strong performance with pre-sales of INR 2,814 crores for 1QFY23 showing a robust +1857cr/+194% YoY growth. Collections in India were INR 2,616 crores, +53% YoY. Net debt reduced by INR ~450 crores to
INR 8,858 crores.
Commenting on the performance, Abhishek Lodha, MD & CEO, said “Q1FY23 was our best ever 1st quarter with INR ~2,814 crores of pre-sales from our India business. With this strong start to the FY, we are pleased that 75% of the sales growth that we had forecasted for this year (INR 1857 cr. out of INR 2500 cr. required to grow from INR 9024 cr. to INR 11,500 cr.) has already been delivered. We are carefully monitoring the impact of inflation and rising interest rates but have not yet seen any impact on housing demand from quality developers. Over the medium & long-term, driven by good wage growth, increase in the relevance of housing to the family after Covid, and consolidation of supply with high-credibility developers, we believe that the housing industry in India is in a structural upcycle.
During the quarter, we continued to see robust reduction in debt with net debt reduced by ~INR 450 crores to ~INR 8858 crores. Further, our London investments continue to track towards repatriation of INR 1500+ crores starting in FY23 which will further strengthen the cash flows of the Indian business.
We continue to see good momentum across all segments, with the affordable & mid-income segments being particularly strong. We believe that significant growth will come from these segments in the next few years as per capita income grows in India and households which have hitherto being unable to afford housing start becoming ‘housing-capable’.
During the quarter we have signed up three JDA projects for 5.1 million square feet area with a GDV of INR 6,200 crores. On the back of strong attractiveness of our brand to land owners and therefore, a robust pipeline of JDAs, we expect to add new projects with a combined GDV of INR ~15,000 crores in FY23.
During this quarter, we have also taken two new initiatives – first the entry into the Bengaluru market which now enables Lodha to covering 2/3rd (by value) of the housing demand in the top 7 Indian cities, and secondly our platform with Bain Capital and Ivanhoe Cambridge to create high quality green digital infrastructure (logistics and industrial parks) across India. We expect both of these to contribute to growth from FY24.
As a company which focusses on ‘do good, do well’, we published our first integrated annual report in June 22 and continue to make good progress towards becoming ‘net zero carbon’ by 2035. With the recent joining of Shri Rajeev Bakshi as Independent Director on our Board, we hope to expedite our journey to become the global leader in ESG in the real estate industry.”
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