real estate: Lodha records Rs 3,450 crore bookings in July-September, collections Rs 1,912 crore

Realty developer Lodha Group, listed as Macrotech Developers, has registered sales of Rs 3,450 crores for the quarter ended September, making the best ever performance for the second quarter of the financial year.

The developer’s collections for the quarter stood at Rs 1,912 crore. Additionally,

has recorded sales worth Rs 1,450 crores in two of its residential projects in London.

The pre-sales in India have risen 88% from a year ago and 109% on a sequential basis.

The performance assumes significance as early part of the quarter was affected by the second wave of Covid19 pandemic and mobility restrictions imposed by the government.

“We are seeing the strength of demand across our portfolio, both in ready as well as under-construction projects, which is truly a testimony to our brand strength and demonstrates the consumers’ trust in us. With the upcoming festive season, we are confident that we will see a huge increase in sales because consumers are so keen to move into a bigger and better home,” said Abhishek Lodha, MD & CEO, Lodha Group.

During the September quarter, the company has inked 1 new joint development agreement taking the total number of such alliances to five since its listing on stock exchanges on April 19. These five projects hold a cumulative gross development value of nearly Rs 4,500 crore for an estimated saleable area of around 4 million sq ft.

According to Lodha, the company’s digital infrastructure vertical is also performing well as Grade A companies are looking to pick up space at its Palava parks.

“We remain confident of achieving our pre-sales guidance of around Rs 9,000 crores for the financial year and reducing our net debt to nearly Rs 10,000 crores, “ he added.

The company has reported net debt for its India business at around Rs 12,508 crore and remains focused on deleveraging coupled with a disciplined growth trajectory.

Top seven property markets across India have recorded over 124% on-year jump in housing sales during the July-September quarter as the country began to cautiously return to normal economic activities in various states supported by aggressive vaccination drives.

Record low home loan rates, sops offered by realty developers and growing need of home ownership as induced by the Covid19 also helped push the sales momentum after a lull April-June quarter that was marked by the pandemic’s resurgence and restrictions imposed by various state governments

“With the ease in travel restrictions to the UK, we are seeing the tremendous potential and increase in enquiries for our London projects. The performance of Rs 1,450 crore in the quarter has exceeded the projected numbers for the quarter, and if the trend continues, we expect to sell out the project ahead of our business plan of FY 24, expediting the release of capital for our growth and deleveraging,” Lodha said on the developments for the UK business.