The stock price of Mumbai-based property developer Housing Development and Infrastructure Limited (HDIL) zoomed 33 per cent last week. The stock has been on a roll, doubling in price since January. Last week’s run-up was after Merrill Lynch, a foreign institutional investor, increased its stake by 1.4 per cent to 6.4 per cent.

Foreign institutional investors held nearly 42 per cent in HDIL, as of December 2014. Last month, the stock was under pressure after the Maharashtra State Budget increased the premium charged for additional FSI sharply. From January however, shares of Mumbai-based developers have fared better than Bengaluru-based developers. One reason for this is the expected pick-up in new launches in Mumbai. While inventory levels continue to be high, a report by Knight Frank showed that property prices increased the most among metros — by 10 per cent for the year ended December 2014 compared with a 3 per cent increase in Bengaluru.

Also, HDIL’s sales and earnings have been on an uptrend and debt is down. For the nine-months ended December 2014, sales increased 30 per cent year-on-year to ₹866 crore. Profits nearly tripled to ₹182 crore in the same period. Area sold increased 16 per cent sequentially to 3.6 lakh sq. ft in the December quarter.

The company’s debt reduced by 14 per cent to ₹3,340 crore as on December 2014.

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