Prestige group's FY21 sales bookings at record Rs 5,461crore despite COVID blues

Realty firm Prestige Estates Projects Ltd's sales bookings rose by 20 percent year-on-year to a record of Rs 5,460.8 crore in the last fiscal year on better demand for its properties despite the COVID pandemic.

According to an investors presentation, the Bengaluru-based firm has achieved a record sales of Rs 5,460.8 crore during 2020-21 financial year. In volume terms, sales bookings increased by 25 percent to 8.16 million sq ft. The average sales realisation was at Rs 6,689 per sq ft in FY21.

Prestige group collected record Rs 5,075.2 crore from customers against sales bookings, up 9 percent from 2019-20 financial year.

During the last fiscal, Prestige group had launched 11.85 million sq ft in FY21.

Prestige Group Chairman Irfan Razack said: 'Despite the challenging environment, Prestige has recorded highest ever sales and collections during the fiscal year. The record sales were backed by the great response to our newly launched projects as well as ready to move in inventory.' The strong performance reflected the increasing consumer preference to own a Prestige group's residential property, he said.

'On the back of our scale, efficiency, and unmatched service, we are witnessing robust traction across the geographies for our offerings,' Razack said.

Venkat K Narayana, Chief Executive Officer, Prestige Group, said that during the last fiscal year, the company concluded phase 1 of the transaction valued at Rs 7467 crore with Blackstone and the second phase of the deal is underway.

'The proceeds are being utilised towards debt reduction and for the next level of growth,' Narayana said.

In March this year, Prestige Estates Projects signed definitive agreements with global investment firm Blackstone to sell 12 assets/undertakings comprising completed office, retail and hotel properties in the first phase of Rs 9,160-crore deal.

On Tuesday, Prestige reported a multi-fold jump in its consolidated net profit to Rs 1,336.3 crore for the quarter ending March, driven by monetisation of large portfolio of commercial assets.

Its net profit stood at Rs 15.4 crore in the year-ago period.

Total income rose to Rs 2,360.6 crore in the fourth quarter of last fiscal from Rs 2,016.9 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year, the Bengaluru-based firm said in a regulatory filing.

The company made an exceptional profit of Rs 1,469.8 crore in the fourth quarter from monetisation of certain commercial assets.

For the full 2020-21 financial year, Prestige Estates clocked a net profit of Rs 1,456.2 crore as against Rs 403.1 crore in the previous year. Total income fell to Rs 7,501.8 crore last fiscal from Rs 8,243.3 crore in the 2019-20 financial year.

Prestige Group, one of the leading real estate developers in the country, has legacy of over three decades in real estate development. It has diversified business model across residential, office, retail, and hospitality segments with operations in 12 key locations in India.

The group has completed 250 projects with developable area of 136 million sq ft and has 50 ongoing projects across segments, with total developable area of 61 million sq ft. Further it has 65 million sq ft under planning and holds a land bank with potential developable area of over 27 million sq ft.