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Lodha, India’s No. 1* real estate developer, announced its financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2024. The Company reported its best ever Q1 pre-sales performance with robust margins. The Company also added 3 more projects during the quarter in the MMR and Pune with a combined GDV of INR 111bn.
Commenting on the performance, Abhishek Lodha, MD & CEO, Macrotech Developers Ltd. said, “Q1FY25 was our best ever 1st quarter with INR 40.3 bn of Pre-sales – our 2nd consecutive quarter of 40bn+ pre-sales. The icing on the cake is that these strong pre-sales have come along side robust embedded EBITDA margins of 33%. Delivery of strong pre-sales from diverse portfolio of projects with strong margins showcases the predictability and consistency of our business model. We are enthused by our performance in Pune having achieved INR ~10bn of pre-sales in Q1 (more than 50% of our Pre-sales in Pune in previous year), setting the stage for becoming the largest player in the city in next few years.
What is also heartening to note is that this strong 20% YoY growth in pre-sales has come despite inclement hot weather conditions and election season impacting footfalls. We believe we are in early stage of a multi-decade housing up-cycle as India transitions from being a low-income economy to a mid-income economy. Continuity of growth-oriented policy will likely further support investments and growth in the economy leading to sustenance in housing demand strength. The recently announced union budget also indicates the same. The government’s focus on skilling the work force as well as job creation and incentivizing the ecosystem for the same is laudable as it would enhance productivity and support economic growth. Focus on housing, infrastructure development and urban planning is expected to further provide a boost to housing sector on a continued basis.
Other key steps such as reinstatement of interest subsidy for entry level home buyers and reduction in capital gains tax on sale of property are also encouraging for the sector. We are pleased to note that we have achieved more than 50% of our business development guidance in the first quarter itself. During the quarter, we added three more projects at marquee locations in the MMR and Pune with INR 111 bn of GDV. On the back of the attractiveness of our brand to landowners and strong balance sheet, we have been able to add new projects worth over INR 650bn since our IPO following “supermarket” strategy in each micro-market.
The large number of projects tied up across several micro-markets of the cities that we operate in, provide us opportunity to grow on a granular basis in a predictable manner over a longer term. Despite significant investments in business development in this quarter, our net debt stands at INR 43.2bn (0.24x Net Debt/ Equity) - well below our ceiling of 0.5x Net Debt/Equity. Our consistent performance, robustness in business fundamentals and strong balance sheet has enabled credit rating upgrade to ‘AA- (Positive)’ by Crisil. Our exit cost of debt for 1QFY25 stands at 9.1% (down ~30 bps for the quarter) - among the lowest in the industry.”
Beyond the numbers, Lodha continues to work towards creating a positive impact on society and the environment, contributing to India’s future. Lodha’s flagship education initiative, the Lodha Genius Programme, which is run in partnership with Ashoka University, recently had its second cohort of ~200 bright young minds from across India being mentored by group of diverse faculty members and experts including from CERN, Stanford, IIT, CMI, TIFR etc. Lodha was also recognized as one of India’s ‘Best Workplaces’ by Great Place to Work, ranked #1 in the real estate sector (the only one in the Top 100) and ranked 64th amongst 2,000 companies across all sectors. Lodha believes its employees are its biggest strength and is committed towards providing work environment that fosters trust and high performance.
