Real estate firm Aditya Birla Real Estate Ltd's (ABREL) management said in a post-earnings investor call that it plans to enter the redevelopment segment in Mumbai, as have most large developers in the city, with the the first deals expected to be announced in the next few weeks. The company plans around Rs 14,000 crore worth of launches across its key markets, although major completions or project handovers are not expected in FY26, the management added.
This was the first quarter that ABREL, formerly known as Century Textiles and Industries, reported its financial results excluding its paper and pulp, and textile businesses. The company has agreed a sale of the paper and pulp division to ITC Ltd for around Rs 3,500 crore, with the deal's closure expected in the second quarter of the ongoing fiscal.
KT Jithendran, managing director and CEO of ABREL's subsidiary Birla Estates, said that while the company will aim to add to its Rs 70,000 crore pipeline this year, its approach towards securing deals will be "conservative".
"Our approach towards look new deals is a little conservative... We don't take any risk other than the market risk. We are very particular about location, title, access, zoning and all that, so, and even the land prices, the micro markets we choose, the kind of competition there is. So from that point of view, we are a little more choosy about our BD (business development) deals," he said, in response to a question about the company's business development strategy.
The management added that around Rs 1,200 crore will be available towards funding business development from the company's sale of its paper and pulp business to ITC Ltd. In case of further requirements, ABREL will go for borrowings, while it also expressed its strategy to secure equity investments at a project level, such as its recent joint venture with Japanese firm Mitsubishi Estate.
As for its upcoming redevelopment play, the company's management acknowledged that competition is heating up in the south Mumbai market, with firms such as Godrej Properties and Prestige Estates aggressively scaling up offerings in the aspirational address, besides ABREL's Birla Estates. However, the management expressed confidence in emerging stronger in the market share game, due to its legacy presence in the market.
Birla Estates is also planning to launch the third phase of its marquee project in south Mumbai, Birla Niyaara, in the second half of the ongoing fiscal, according to an investor presentation. The management added that it has sold out most of the inventory in the first tower at Niyaara, and has sold 96 of the 148 units in the second tower, having sold around 10 units there in the January-March quarter. For the launch of the third tower, ABREL said that it is plans a "changed format", although it did not elaborate on the planned changes.
At 2:32pm on May 15, ABREL's shares traded at Rs 2,048.60 on the National Stock Exchange, 1 percent higher than the previous close.
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