India's second most valued real estate firm, Macrotech Developers, reported a 66 percent growth in its consolidated net profit for the October-December quarter to Rs 944.4 crore, while the consolidated revenue grew by 39 percent over the same period to Rs 4,083 crore.
In a press release, the company, which markets projects under the "Lodha" brand, said that its pre-sales bookings grew by around 32 percent year-on-year to around Rs 4,510 crore, which the company's managing director and chief executive officer Abhishek Lodha referred to as its best ever in a quarter. Collections also increased significantly for the reported quarter to Rs 4,290 crore, higher by 66 percent year-on-year, which Lodha attributed to the "strong execution capability" of the company.
The company, whose main market was largely in various suburbs of the Mumbai metropolitan region (MMR), has also carried out projects in Pune and Bengaluru. Lodha added that the company is carrying out major business development activity in all markets.
"We added another project in Bengaluru with a gross development value of Rs 2,800 crore – our fifth in the city. These new project additions in Bengaluru will provide opportunity to drive pre-sales growth from the next financial year onwards in the city, where we have entered the expansion phase now. Our new business development for April-December FY25 across MMR, Pune and Bengaluru stands at Rs 19,500 crore of gross development value across eight projects, thus achieving more than 90 percent of our full year guidance," Lodha said in a statement.
The company, which has planned to increase its annuity income to Rs 1,500 crore by FY31, said that it is continuing the strengthen the warehousing and digital infrastructure business. During the quarter, Macrotech bought out Bain Capital's stake in its digital infrastructure vertical, and prior to that, it also bought out Ivanhoe's stake in the business. During the quarter, Macrotech bought 33 acres of land in the Sohna, near Gurugram, for around Rs 110 crore, for the warehousing and industrial parks business.
At the end of December 31, the company, which had previously struggled with high levels of debt, reported a net debt of around Rs 4,310 crore, reducing it by around Rs 610 crore. Macrotech attributed the reduction in debt levels to cash generation of around Rs 2,400 crore during the quarter, also noting that its exit cost of debt is continuing to reduce, and currently stands at 8.8 percent, claiming it to be "one of the lowest" in the industry.
The company has scheduled a post-earnings call with investors on January 27. Investors are expected to keenly await commentary on the company's legal proceedings against Abhishek Lodha's brother Abhinandan, and its potential impact on the company. Over the past week, the company's stock has declined by 7.7 percent on the National Stock Exchange.
Macrotech reported an adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortisation (EBITDA) of Rs 1,590 crore, higher by 48 percent year-on-year, with an operating margin of 38.85 percent for the quarter. The margins were higher than the 36.68 percent reported in the same quarter last year.
On January 24, Macrotech's shares closed 1.6 percent higher on the National Stock Exchange at Rs 1,100.
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