Latest Property News on 'Real Estate Developers'

HDIL Receives Govt Approval for slum rehabilitation project in Mumbai

Real estate services provider Housing Development & Infrastructure Ltd has received government approval to develop a slum rehabilitation project in Mumbai, a top official told Reuters. “We have received approval for Santacruz West Rehabilitation Project. It’s 1.2 million of sale area, and 0.7 million of rehabilitation area,” Managing Director Sarang Wadhawan said. At an estimated cost of 12,000-15,000 rupees per square feet, the value will be around Rs 20 billion, he added.

Incomplete Projects Creating Problems for Unitech

Developer Unitech’s Rs 2,022 crore inflow from sale of part stake in the telecom business will bring down its debt, but it may not be time yet for investors to grab the stock as the company may still not be out of the woods. The country’s second largest real estate company has to scale up its execution capability as it launched more projects to catch the affordable housing frenzy that may keep pressuring its profit margins for quarters to come. It already has its hands full with incomplete projects which substantially brought down margins last quarter. And the spectre of higher interest rates and the possible demand erosion because of a steep rise in real estate prices in the past few months may add to the woes.

The Rs 2,022 crore from Telenor will help the company bring down its Rs 6,200 crore debt and its current debt to equity ratio of 0.55x. Its nine months earnings per share in December 2009 was Rs 2.25, down from Rs 5.66 a year earlier. Unitech aims to accelerate completion of its ongoing projects to boost earnings. But here again, it has missed the scheduled delivery of its past projects of 17 million (m) sq feet, which it now plans to complete by end- FY11. Its operating profit in December 2009 quarter fell by 26 percentage points despite a 58% y-o-y growth in sales at Rs 778 crore. In the nine months to December 2009, Unitech launched 24.42 m sq feet, which is equivalent to its 2007 launches when the real estate boom was at its peak. Of this, 13 m sq feet have been booked by customers which may bring it a revenue of Rs 5,550 crore over four years. Read More »

Vascon Plans To Develop Non-Major Airports in India with Foreign Joint Venture Partners

Vascon Engineers, an engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) services and real estate development company, plans to develop non-major airports in India with foreign joint venture partners, a top company official said. “We plan to develop upcoming airports in the country with foreign JV partners. This will add value to our propositions,” Vascon Engineers chairman and managing director, R Vasudevan, told PTI here today. The company is also interested in various government and low-cost housing projects, including slum area development in the country, he said. Today, the company listed at Rs 156 on the National Stock Exchange (NSE), at a discount of 5.5 per cent to its issue price of Rs 165. It touched a high of Rs 171.95 and low of Rs 155 on the NSE in early trading.

On the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE), its shares opened at Rs 170. It was trading at Rs 163.55 and touched a high of Rs 173.45 and low of Rs 155.90, in early trading. The company has raised Rs 178.20 crore through its IPO, which will be used for its EPC contracts and real estate development projects, repayment of debt and general corporate purposes. “We plan to utilise the proceeds for our expansion. We will also repay Rs 39 crore debt,” Vasudevan said. The issue of 10,800,000 equity shares opened for subscription during January 27-29 at a price-band of Rs 165-185 and was subscribed 1.22 times.

DLF Chairman K P Singh urges FM to come up with Growth Friendly Budget

Urging Finance Minister not to be swayed by concerns on rising inflation, DLF Chairman K P Singh on Monday said the government needed to focus on growth in the forthcoming Budget to achieve 9-10 per cent economic expansion during 2010-11. “Finance Minister, in my view, should support growth and not be bothered that much about inflation,” Singh, who heads the country’s largest real estate firm, replied to a query on budget expectations.

“Finance Minister should take all measures, which are required to continue with the effort of taking our GDP to, I believe, 9-10 per cent. He should not take any measures, which can bring disincentives for growth,” he said on the sidelines of a FICCI conference. The country’s economy is estimated to grow at 7.2 per cent in 2009-10 from 6.7 per cent last fiscal. Inflation on Monday rose to 8.56 per cent in January from 7.31 per cent in the previous month on various food items turning costlier. When asked about the steps required to curb inflation, Singh said the government should take measures to boost supply in order to check rising prices of foodgrains. Read More »

PVR Calls off Deal with DLF Cinema

Multiplex operator PVR and real estate major DLF have decided to end the deal involving the sale of the cinema exhibition business of DT Cinemas Ltd, a DLF group firm. Sources said the deal has been called off as DLF could not meet the terms of the deal. They, however, added that the parties may reconsider the deal if the market improves.

DLF officials confirmed to DNA Money the development but declined to provide further information on the issue. DLF’s share price has fallen in the last few weeks since the companies announced the deal last November, while the PVR stock has climbed. DLF had on November 13 sold the cinema business of DT Cinemas to PVR for Rs 22 crore in cash and 2.56 million equity shares of PVR (or 10% stake on a fully diluted basis). Read More »

Real Estate Developer Wants to Pull out Of Slum Rehab Project, Seeks Refund

With the Delhi Development Authority (DDA) and Delhi government’s Environment department involved in a legal tussle over whether a part of land earmarked for Tehkhand Slum Rehabilitation project is part of the ridge, the project is unlikely to see light of the day soon. As a result, real estate company Indiabulls, which was to carry out the project, has written to the DDA seeking refund of Rs 450 crore along with interest. The letter also asks the company to be allowed to pull out of the project.

In 2006, the DDA had auctioned off 11.8 acres in Tehkhand, an area adjoining the Tughlakabad greens in South Delhi, to a consortium of DLF and Indiabulls real estate for Rs 450 crore. Indiabulls bought out DLF’s stake in the project for an undisclosed amount two years later. “As per our agreement, the consortium was to seek all statutory clearances before they began work on the project. They got all major clearances but the matter got stuck when the Delhi Pollution Control Committee (DPCC) contested that some parts of the property were technically a part of the ridge,” a senior DDA official explained.

DLF Generated Revenue of over Rs 530 crore in January

DLF Ltd, the largest real estate developer in the country by market value, has generated revenue collection of over Rs 530 crore in January as it stepped up execution process for the development of properties, its senior official said. The developer was able to sell Rs 480 crore worth of new properties and received Rs 50 crore from selling projects from previous launches. “Even in the difficult month of January, we were able to generate revenue collection of over Rs 530 crore which shows that real estate as a sector is bouncing back, especially the residential segment,” Rajiv Talwar, executive director at DLF, told DNA.

He said they are going slow on their planned non-core asset sale as the “distress times” are now behind the real estate sector. DLF is expected to raise a total of Rs 2,500 crore from non-core asset sale in the current fiscal. “With improvement in the Indian economy, we have seen that there is no requirement of distress sale and valuation of properties that we have put up for sale are getting better, and that is why we are constantly analysing that what is the optimum price at which you will offload a non-core asset…we are in no more hurry to sell them,” Talwar said. Meanwhile, the New Delhi-based real estate developer confirmed that the proposed deal with PVR to sell its cinema business, DT Cinemas, for Rs 22 crore in cash and 2.56 million equity shares of PVR is “currently on” and a decision would be made on February 15. Read More »

Real Estate Developers Expecting a Lot from Budget 2010

Developers are re-calculating the upwards swing in the real estate industry, especially housing, provided Government pays special attention the sector. Various developers voice their expectations from Budget 2010.

AVNISH AGRAWAL, DIRECTOR, MERITON GROUP- Talking from common man’s perspective, the bank interest rates should be stabilised. Most importantly, stamp duty should be reduced as it puts financial burden on the buyers; it would be a real relief for the common man who has to bear the burden. Besides, for the new projects many clearances are required; if they can be done through a single window, it will be a major breakthrough. Read More »

Emaar Registers 98 per cent Hike in Net Profit

The UAE-based Emaar Properties said it has reported 98 per cent jump in net profit to 327 million dirhams (USD 89.02 million) last year. Emaar also stated that it will focus on middle-income housing in emerging markets, including India, Egypt and Pakistan this year. The company recorded a profit of 165 million dirhams (USD 44.9 million) in 2008. The company’s fourth quarter net profit stood at 923 million dirhams (USD 251.2 million), 41 per cent higher than the third quarter 655 million dirhams (USD 178.3 million), it said in a statement. Emaar’s total revenue, however, declined 21 per cent to 8.41 billion dirhams (USD 2.29 billion) in 2009 from 10.71 billion dirhams (USD 2.91 billion) in 2008.

The net profit for the full-year also fell by 45 per cent from 2008. Revenue for the last three-months of 2009 was 53 per cent higher than the third quarter of 2009 and 94 per cent higher than the fourth quarter of 2008. Emaar Chairman Mohammad Al Abbar, said the company will focus on completion of the existing projects across the global markets. “The crowning achievement, in our track record of successful project management and delivery, is the inauguration of the Burj Khalifa ( the world’s tallest tower),” he said. Total expenditure stood at 4.31 billion dirhams (USD 1.17 billion) in 2009, 21 per cent less from 5.48 billion dirhams (USD 1.49 billion) in 2008. Read More »

Red Fort Capital Confirms Investment of $1bn in Real Estate Projects

Real estate private equity firm Red Fort Capital today said it will invest up to $1 billion (around Rs 4,800 crore) in the next three years on various projects, including acquiring promoters’ stake in some major realty developers in India. “We are accelerating our investment programme very significantly amongst major metros and asset class. We are looking to invest up to $1 billion in the next 2-3 years in residential, office, hospitality, logistics and other projects,” Red Fort Capital Director Kuldip Chawla told PTI on the sidelines of a CII real estate event here. The PE fund would acquire stake between 20-70 per cent at both special purpose vehicle (SPV) level and enterprise level, he added.

“We are in discussion with some of the biggest developers in Delhi and Mumbai to pick up stakes, at least one deal is expected to be finalised in the next couple of months,” Chawla said, without giving any further detail. The PE firm, which is based in Cayman Island in the Caribbean Sea, has already invested about Rs 700 crore in the last 18 months in five projects worth up to Rs 7,000 crore. It has an allocation of over $400 million for the Indian real estate market.