Real estate developer Brigade Enterprises said delayed project approvals and back-ended launches weighed on its full-year pre-sales performance, even as a strong fourth quarter helped soften the impact. Managing Director Pavitra Shankar said the company launched nearly 4 million square feet of residential projects during the March quarter and clocked around ₹2,500 crore in pre-sales, translating into roughly 2 million square feet sold.
Brigade signalled a sharper focus on commercial real estate and hospitality as part of its long-term diversification strategy. Shankar said the company has always operated across residential, office, retail and hospitality segments, but the residential business expanded rapidly over the past five to six years due to strong market opportunities.
Now, Brigade is entering a fresh capital expenditure cycle in offices and hotels. The company plans to add another 1,700 hotel keys to its existing hospitality portfolio of around 1,600 keys, while also scaling up its commercial real estate presence. She noted that while the residential cycle appears to be stabilising after a strong multi-year run, demand for premium office developments — particularly from global capability centres or GCCs — remains robust across Bengaluru, Chennai and Hyderabad.
However, she acknowledged that the company fell short of earlier expectations for the full year as several planned launches were pushed back due to approval-related delays. According to Shankar, the absence of major launches during the first three quarters hurt overall sales momentum, though steady “sustenance sales” from existing projects helped support annual numbers.
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She added that on-ground housing demand remains healthy and the company expects upcoming launches in the first half of the new financial year to perform well.
Brigade indicated that the regulatory environment in Bengaluru continues to remain unpredictable compared with earlier years, echoing concerns raised by several developers operating in the city. Shankar said frequent changes involving local authorities and approval processes have made timelines harder to estimate, even though the company is working to better manage project execution schedules.
While Hyderabad and Chennai offer greater predictability from a regulatory standpoint, Bengaluru — Brigade's core market — continues to face procedural bottlenecks that have affected launch timing. The company said it is not assuming a significantly easier approvals environment going forward and is instead planning conservatively around execution timelines.
Addressing concerns around profitability, Shankar clarified that the recent pressure on margins was tied to revenue recognition from older projects rather than weaker current demand. She explained that projects being handed over today were sold several years ago at lower prices, which is reflected in current margins. In contrast, recent pre-sales have been achieved at significantly higher realisations, which the company expects will support profitability in the coming years.
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