In an interview with PTI, DLF Home Developers Ltd Senior Executive Director Aakash Ohri expressed confidence that the company would achieve its sales guidance of average Rs 1,000 crore a quarter, driven by need for home ownership and upgradation to bigger homes with better amenities amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We have done phenomenally well in terms of sales. We sold over Rs 3,000 crore worth homes during 2020-21 fiscal despite the COVID pandemic,” he told PTI.
Ohri said the housing sales picked up fast after the first quarter which was muted because of the nationwide coronavirus lockdown.
“People want to pick up good products from credible developers. They want better amenities and high quality of safety, security and services in residential complexes,” he said.
Ohri highlighted that the company’s decision to monetise several small land parcels, which it owned in Gurugram, through development of independent floors have paid off.
“We have launched and sold 551 apartments since October 2020,” he said, adding that the company would continue to focus on the development of independent floors in DLF phase 1-5 and new Gurugram.
The sales value of these 551 units is around Rs 1,230 crore.
Since October, DLF has launched these floors between Rs 11,000 per sq ft and Rs 15,000 per sq ft in DLF phase 1 to 5. The price range is Rs 3 crore to Rs 5.6 crore including the GST.
In DLF Gardencity, New Gurugram, independent floors have been launched at Rs 6,000-6,500 per sq ft. The ticket size is Rs 1.25-1.7 crore.
DLF has started construction of these independent floors and will deliver them in the next two years.
Ohri noted that plots and independent floors continue to remain an attractive investment option due to lower investment cost and high returns.
“Based on the demand and learnings from last year, this year our focus is to scale up launches of new products, revamp our premium and mid-income housing offerings and continue to monetise our finished inventory across regions,” Ohri said.
Talking about its ultra luxury project Camellias in Gurugram, he said housing sales have been robust and the company remains focused to sell ready-to-move-in units worth Rs 4,000 crore in this property.
He noted that rental yield of its various properties at Golf Course Road has reached around 4 per cent.
“The appreciation in capital as well as rental values in our properties are high. Customers get good returns on their investment,” Ohri said.
On launch pipeline besides Gurugram, DLF’s Senior ED informed that the company plans to launch projects in the national capital, Kasauli, Himachal Pradesh, tri-city in Chandigarh and Panchkula, and Chennai.
Earier this month, DLF reported its sales bookings numbers for last fiscal at Rs 3,084 crore, up 24 per cent from the previous year.
The company has given a guidance of sales bookings of Rs 4,000 crore for FY’22.
“We are confident of achieving average sales of Rs 1,000 crore per quarter,” Ohri said.
On financial performance front, DLF reported a consolidated net profit of Rs 480.94 crore for the quarter ended March 2021.
The company had posted a net loss of Rs 1,857.76 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income rose to Rs 1,906.59 crore in the fourth quarter of last fiscal year, from Rs 1,873.80 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.
For the entire financial year 2020-21, DLF posted a net profit of Rs 1,093.61 crore as against a net loss of Rs 583.19 crore.
Total income fell to Rs 5,944.89 crore last fiscal from Rs 6,888.14 in the financial year 2019-20.
