India’s largest property firm DLF on Thursday reported a 77% decline in profit for the September quarter on lower demand for homes, offices and shops, and higher interest outgo, but said it will continue to launch more residential projects to cash in on the renewed demand. As the demand has recovered, sales in homes have picked up considerably. We will continue to launch a mix of attractive products across locations, DLF vice-chairman Rajiv Singh said.

DLF’s profit of Rs 440 crore was slightly lower than analysts’ expectations. An ET poll of 15 analysts saw the net profit at Rs 492 crore. The company’s sales fell 53% to Rs 1,810 crore. Interest cost for the quarter went up five times from Rs 47 crore to Rs 248 crore from the year ago period.

The Delhi-based realty giant said it was focused on reducing debt. The company had, in the beginning of this fiscal, said it planned to raise Rs 5,500 crore through sale of non-core assets to halve its debt, which was Rs 14,000 crore then. The company on Wednesday said its sale of non-core assets and land parcels was “progressing as planned.” The company realised Rs 550 crore through asset sale in September quarter, leading to a cumulative realisation of Rs 1,064 crore this fiscal so far. DLF booked 2.74 million sqft of residential space, including 0.35 million sqft of luxury home space in a project in Gurgaon, during the quarter prompting it to say that luxury residential segment too was seeing a revival.

More : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Developers, who were unable to sell a thousand flats in nearly a year, have sold over 16,000 across the country in just the last two quarters. But the feel-good run may be over before long, say market watchers.

Between April and September this year, DLF, the largest real estate developer in the country, has launched and sold over 2,000 flats in its mid-income housing range. Unitech, the second-largest player, generated Rs 4,000 crore of sales in seven months by selling 10.11 million square feet from over 30 new launches. Among others, Parsvnath Developers booked 400-500 flats, while Omaxe claims sales of 400 flats in the same period.

All thanks to aggressive marketing, advertising and tie-ups with brokers and investors.
But lest this be construed as a sign that the sector has turned around, market watchers would like to caution us it’s a bubble. Going by them, developers, who are riding high on affordable housing, could soon face execution delays and payment issues as a significant portion, around 50% or more, of flat buyers are speculative investors.

More : dnaindia.com

If you are thinking of investing in land to diversify your portfolio, make sure that you choose the location wisely. Location is the sole indicator to make your investment a lucrative one in these times. Across cities, there are a number of locations that can be looked at for offering attractive returns.

According to global real estate consultancy, Cushman & Wakefield (C&W), Gurgaon and Noida in Delhi NCR have some good options especially with these cities continuing to gain in economic prominence. In Mumbai, plots are hard to come by, so nearby areas such as Karjat and Igatpuri will offer attractive returns.

South Chennai has good investment areas beyond Tambaram as they are witnessing strong infrastructure impetus and potential economic activity. And if you are looking at Bangalore, locations in the north of Bangalore, especially in and around Devanhalli region, where there is anticipated commercial development, existing airport and other infrastructural developments, are a viable choice.

More : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Property prices at Garia on the southern fringes of Kolkata have surged after the extension of Metro railway to the region recently. The prices of residential property here have surged by over 30 per cent over the last five months, proving that extension of infrastructure and connectivity is the largest booster for real-estate at any given point of time.

The prices of property in some parts of Kolkata had decreased by up to 20 per cent over the last one year due to fall in demand during the economic downturn. Rajarhat, the newly developing area in the eastern fringes of the city, suffered a steeper fall in prices compared with other regions, particularly on account of lack of connectivity and basic infrastructure.

“The price of residential property has increased by Rs 400-500 per sq.ft over the last six months in Garia after the announcement of inauguration of the extended Metro- rail network,” Mr Abhijit Ghosh, a broker operating in the area, said. The prices have nearly doubled over the last three years to Rs 1,800-2,400 per sq.ft depending upon proximity to the metro station.

More : thehindubusinessline.com

Three solar companies are going to be setting up shop at Karidi in Andhra Pradesh’s Anantapur district, which has earmarked 5,000 acres for the projects, according to a report in tomorrow’s edition of the Business Standard.

State-run Andhra Pradesh Industrial Infrastructure, which develops industrial parks, said it has issued offer letters to the companies. Andhra Pradesh is a state on the south-eastern coast of India.

The businesses are expected to invest more than Rs 3,000 crore ($644 million), with Rs 2,000 crore coming from Sunborne Energy Technologies and about Rs 600 crore each coming from AES Solar and Hyderabad-based Lanco Solar.

More : cleantech.com

DLF and Unitech, the two biggest real estate developers, are poised to lead the sector in reporting that profits plunged in the September quarter as sales were lower than a year ago due to high prices. But earnings may be better than the June quarter as sale of low-priced homes brought in hopes of revival, which may fizzle out if developers keep raising prices.

Many real estate firms which were teetering on the brink of collapse a few months ago, have come back to life as they used the record stock market rally last quarter to raise equity funds and cut their debt which almost ruined them during the credit crisis.

Developers such as DLF and Orbit will gain from the launch of city-centric projects at aggressive price points, said a report from brokerage Edelweiss Capital. Unitech and DLF have sold over 7 million sq ft and 4 million sq ft of space, respectively, from their new launches during the current fiscal.

More : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Indias largest property firm, DLF, that scaled down ambitions in the hotel business, following an economic downturn, to focus on core areas of building homes, offices and shops, is planning various options to fully or partly exit from the international luxury hotel chain Amanresorts that the developer had purchased at the peak of the economic boom in 2007 end. The company has also held preliminary talks with at least two Indian hotel chains, but a huge gap between the buyer and seller’s expectations has played spoilsport for concrete deal discussions.

Founded by Indonesian hotelier Adrian Zecha, Amanresorts is a super luxury chain of resorts usually built with small inventory of rooms to offer exclusivity. The company is known to charge one of the highest average daily room rates that sometimes cross $600. The hotel company owns and manages 23 small luxury resorts worldwide and will open a new resort in Utah, USA, in October, as per the company’s website. It operates three resorts in India — one in New Delhi and two in Rajasthan.

In 2007, Adrian Zecha, announced that he has formed an equal partnership with DLF, which has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire a controlling interest in the Aman Resorts group. DLF, currently, holds 50% in Aman and as per the agreement, would acquire controlling stake in due time.

More : economictimes.indiatimes.com

Avantha Group Scouts For Acquisitions - Avantha Group, a diversified business conglomerate with interest in areas including power generation, manufacturing and education space, is scouting for possible acquisition to expand its Crompton Greaves and BILT business. The company plans to scale up its Crompton Greaves biz at a scale that will generate up to $5.5-6 billion in revenues. It also wants Rs 10,000 crore sales from power biz over the next five years, which is currently at Rs 4000 crore. (Economic Times)

Sterlite Raises $500 Million – Tamil Nadu-based metals and mining company Sterlite Industries has raised $500 million in senior notes, which are convertible into American Depositary Shares (ADS) at an initial conversion price of approximately $23.33 per ADS. The company intends to use the proceeds for expansion of its copper business with allied power plant and acquisition of complementary businesses outside of India. Deutsche Bank Securities and Morgan Stanley were acting as joint book runners for the offering. (Times of India)

Duet, DLF Hotel Plot Talks Called Off - Duet India Hotels Ltd (DIH), the private equity firm focused on the hospitality sector, has called off talks for picking up a 2-acre Gurgaon hotel plot from DLF. The asking rate for the DLF plot was around Rs 10,000 per square feet and was supposedly brought down to Rs 8,000. The PE firm is currently in negotiations for a large brownfield development in south India for its foray in the five-star hospitality segment in the country. (DNA)

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Real estate firm BPTP has sold properties worth Rs 1,600 crore during the first half of the current fiscal from its three housing projects in Faridabad in the national capital region.

On the back of improved sentiment in the property market, BPTP has sold nearly 7,000 units in these three projects, part of a 1,900 acre integrated township ‘BPTP Parklands’.

All the three projects are completely sold out. We have sold more than 6,000 independent floors since April in two projects. The company has also sold about 800 premium flats, BPTP Director Sudhanshu Tripathi said.

More : economictimes.indiatimes.com

ILD Spire Greens is located in the fast developing Sector 37 C in Gurgaon. The project will offer apartments starting from the spacious 1175 sq. ft two Badrooms.ILD the leading Real Estate developer who has already developed and executed Mega Industrial Township of more than 300 Acres on Jaipur-Highway and very soon will be handing over the possession of a Retail cum Commercial complex, ILD Trade Centre on Sohna Road , Gurgaon and Singapore based company “Millennium Spire” which has a vast international experience have joined hands and came up with the new venture by the name of ILD Millennium Pvt. Ltd.

A reflection of novel architecture, pleasing aesthetics and impressive designs from ILDSPIRE GREENS are 2, 3, 3+1 & 4 bedroom apartments spread over 18.5 acres in various configurations, to cater to individual requirements. A host of modern amenities like the Retail Outlet, an exclusive club with swimming pool; steam and sauna facilities; tennis and squash courts, and other leisure and fitness facilities add to your recreation and convenience. T

he project also conforms to all safety standards like fire fighting systems, access control cards, CCTV and the building structure is totally earthquake-resistant.

More : bignews.biz