Analysts fear that the rejection of bail plea of Mr Sanjay Chandra, Managing Director of Unitech Ltd, in the 2G spectrum case, could lead to a slowdown in execution of ongoing projects of India's second largest real estate company. But Unitech brushed aside these apprehensions.
It said it does not anticipate any “adverse effect” on its real estate business. “Unitech is managed by a competent set of senior experienced professionals and promoters and will continue to pursue its growth plans,” a company spokesperson said.
Analysts are, however, not convinced. While most industry experts were unwilling to come on record, they felt that there could be an impact on day-to-day operations since Mr Sanjay Chandra, more than his brother Mr Ajay Chandra, has been the face of the Unitech for investors and lenders.
“We will have to wait and see just how much management time goes into this non-business related issue,” said a Mumbai-based analyst.
Another industry analyst felt that the impact in terms of sentiment would be felt across the industry.
In March, the company said it had received an overwhelming response for its new project Unitech South Park, Gurgaon, and for the first phase of ‘Unihomes' project at Rewari.
At that time, Unitech had also talked of steadily improving its cash flows on the back of “improved realisation from operations”.
But 2011 has been a choppy year for Unitech Ltd. Besides the industry-wide slump in property sales and shortage of funds, the company itself has been fire-fighting on different fronts.
For instance, it recently had a spat with Telenor over a proposed rights issue for the telecom venture. In February, Unitech had to move the Delhi High Court to restrain its lenders from selling the promoters' pledged shares.
Unitech Ltd shares fell 5.13 per cent on the BSE on Wednesday to close at Rs 40.65 a share.
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