The Hindu Business Line : DLF net rises 6% on higher realisations from projects

Mr Rajiv Singh, Vice-Chairman, DLF Ltd, with Group Managing Director, Mr T.C. Goyal, at a press conference to announce the company’s third quarter results in the Capital on Wednesday.

Our Bureau

New Delhi, Jan 30

The country’s largest real estate firm DLF Ltd on Wednesday posted a third-quarter consolidated net profit of Rs 2,139 crore, about six per cent higher compared to the second quarter of FY08, as the company saw a growing demand for houses and offices and booked higher realisations from execution.

The consolidated revenue of the company stood at Rs 3,651 crore, up nine per cent over the previous quarter. The company - which raised over Rs 9,000 crore through a public issue in June last year - did not provide a year-on-year comparison as the numbers for the corresponding quarter previous year were unaudited.

“However, as an indication if you see the 12 months ended March 2007, our total profit was Rs 1,933 crore , and so the profit just this quarter is more than 10 per cent higher than those 12 months,” Mr Rajiv Singh, Vice- Chairman of DLF Ltd, said at a conference here.

Sale of projects to DLF Assets contributed over 50 per cent to DLF’s topline and bottomline.

The commercial office segment continued to perform above expectation for DLF, which booked 2.18 million square feet of lease compared with 0.86 million square feet in the previous quarter, a growth of 153 per cent. It also acquired two land parcels adding up to 56 acres in Hyderabad and one parcel of 10.45 acres in Gurgaon.

In the retail space, the company plans to launch commercial projects in Kolkata, Hyderabad, Lucknow and Ludhiana in the coming quarters. The company has acquired land parcels for development of malls and commercial complexes in Hyderabad and Pune. In the residential space, the company said it has 483 million square feet of residential projects in its land resource. DLF booked 1.41 million square feet of residential projects in Q3FY08, as compared to 0.11 million square feet and 0.49 million square feet in Q2 and Q1, respectively.

The company said that the process of regulatory approvals and listing of DLF Office Trust – of which DLF would be a sponsor – was under way. “We expect the listing to be complete before middle of this year,” he pointed out.

Asked about the impact of the RBI’s decision to leave its key interest rates unchanged in its latest Credit policy review, Mr Singh said, “We do not see any implication. In fact in the long run, we expect the interest rates to come down substantially over the next 15 years or so.”

On the mid-income housing projects, Mr Singh said DLF has sold 3,000 flats in last two months and the company would be launching such projects in 30 cities across India, including new Gurgaon where the launch would take place in February.

“We are aiming for a price range of Rs 40-50 lakh for a three bed-room plus servant room,” he pointed out.

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