Lodha Developers repays Deutsche Bank, cuts debt 25 pct

MUMBAI (Reuters) - Lodha Developers has repaid a 16.4 billion rupee loan from Deutsche Bank , the developer said on Thursday, helping it to reduce its debt by 25 percent.

The company said it paid Deutsche Bank 25.4 billion rupees, resulting in a gain of 9 billion Indian rupees for the bank, which had lent the money in the form of a convertible debenture issue at the end of 2007.

Lodha, which reduced its debt to 30 billion rupees from 40 billion rupees as a result of the repayment, is now looking for opportunities to buy land with its surplus cash, Managing Director Abhisheck Lodha told Reuters.

Lodha, which will have sales of about 60 billion rupees this year, has surplus cash of 15 billion rupees that it plans to spend in the year starting on April 1.

Indian real estate developers are facing a lack of financing options as high interest rates put pressure on financing costs and a slowing economy dampens investor confidence.

Privately owned Lodha repaid Deutsche Bank's using 17.2 billion rupees of cash on hand and 8.25 billion rupees raised by issuing non-convertible debentures. The company's other investors include HDFC Venture Fund and ICICI Ventures.

Lodha, one of Mumbai's biggest developers, said it does not intend to raise further debt or capital.

Lodha said his company had sold more than 50 percent of the apartments in its 117-storey World One tower, which will be the world's tallest residential building.

Apartments in the project, which is expected to be completed in 2015, start at $1.5 million and rise past $15 million.

Property sales in Mumbai fell 28 percent year-on-year to 8 million square feet in the quarter ended December 2011. Prices climbed 25 percent over the same period, according to property research firm Liases Foras.

(Reporting by Aditi Shah)