Godrej Properties Posts Record Home Sales In A Quarter

Godrej Properties Ltd. said it recorded its best quarterly volumes, aided by new projects and sales from existing inventory.

The developer sold 2,900 homes with a booking value in excess of Rs 2,100 crore in the fourth quarter ended March, according to its exchange filing. That's a total area of about 3.75 million square feet, about 50 percent more than the previous best recorded in the October-December period.

Pirojsha Godrej, executive chairman at Godrej Properties, said the company is excited to build on this momentum and deliver another record-breaking year 2019-20.

The company's performance signals a sustained recovery for the sector that was saddled with excess inventory after the back-to-back setbacks from demonetisation and a stricter housing law protecting homebuyers. Sales rose 6 percent in 2018, according to Knight Frank's half yearly update in January. But more importantly, new launches jumped 76 percent on the back of affordable housing.

CLSA, retaining Godrej Properties as its top pick, had said in a prior note that the “response to new launches, as evidenced by near sell-out of [the company's] new affordable housing project in Pune, is good. Its ability and willingness to launch in tough market conditions, combined with steady sales, are indicators of its ability to emerge as a beneficiary of the ongoing consolidation in the industry”, it said.

Shares of Godrej Properties have returned 12 percent gains in the last one year compared with a 16 percent rise in the NSE Nifty Realty Index. The stock, however, remained volatile till October, since when it has surged about 74 percent.

More than 88 percent of the analysts tracking the stock have a ‘Buy' or a ‘Hold' rating, according to Bloomberg data. But given its surge in March, the average 12-month target price implies a decline of 6.5 percent.