Listed real estate developer Ajmera Realty and Infra India Limited is looking to monetise its land holdings to reduce debt. The company has around 1.2 crore sqft of land (carpet area) in different parts of Mumbai. It has invested in the land parcels and added value by resolving challenges, said Ajmera Realty executives, during an investor call on the company’s Q1FY24 results.
“Apart from our ongoing and upcoming projects, we also have a land bank of approximately 11.6 million square feet, which is—in carpet terms—approximately about 1.2 crore square feet in different parts of Mumbai. And we are seeing … great potential coming out of this,” Dhaval Ajmera, Director, Ajmera Realty and Infra, said during the investor call on July 31.
Land monetisation
On a question about the company’s plans to monetise land parcels to pay off debt, Ajmera said, “There are … one land or two lands which … are already under discussion for monetisation and the other things are also going to be on the development front.”
“This is an investment property which we are monetising. Investments into the property and that challenges have been resolved amounting to a lot of value addition or value accretion. It is not for the purpose of debt reduction. However, it is definitely going to help us on the debt reduction side as well,” said Nitin Bavisi, Chief Financial Officer of Ajmera Realty.
Bring down debt by 90% in 3 years
The company is also working on a plan to cut down its corporate debt by 90 percent in three years and keep it minimal.
“Our total debt is around Rs 778 crore. We have repaid around Rs 54 crore last fiscal, and we are focusing on bringing our corporate-level debt down first. Corporate debt will be around Rs 525 crore. The rest is project-specific debt. From Rs 525 crore, we want to cut down around 90 percent of the total corporate debt in the next three years,” Ajmera had told Moneycontrol in May 2023.
“We plan to bring down this debt to minimal from our internal accruals. Some projects are under closure, and they will have surplus cash flow coming in. There will be land sales, and there will be some assets that are ready. All these factors will help us cut debt,” Ajmera had said.
The company is open to all sorts of opportunities, including the redevelopment of old buildings, slum rehabilitation, commercial and warehousing projects. “Further, we plan to continue to grow in cities like Mumbai, Pune, Bengaluru, and Ahmedabad,” Ajmera said.
Also read: Ajmera Realty secures redevelopment project for 4 societies in Mumbai's Borivali
FY 24 targets
In Q1FY24, the company had done sales of approximately Rs 225 crore—a 60 percent increase over the last quarter. “Sales volume has also increased and shown growth of about 96 percent to 135,000 square feet. And moving ahead for the year FY24, we have set ourselves a target of achieving Rs 1,000 crores and I am pleased to share Rs 225 crores has already been achieved in this quarter,” Ajmera said during the investor call.
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