Top Listed Realty Firms Perform Well despite Second Wave

Despite the challenging environment, the top listed companies performed very well on the sales front. According to rating agency ICRA, the top 10 listed companies in real estate witnessed 61 percent growth in the December quarter, though the overall market was 24 perc

BY Realty Plus
Published - Thursday, 13 May, 2021

Top Listed Realty Firms Perform Well despite Second Wave

Despite the challenging environment, the top listed companies performed very well on the sales front. According to rating agency ICRA, the top 10 listed companies in real estate witnessed 61 percent growth in the December quarter, though the overall market was 24 percent lower than the pre-COVID-19 level. The sales by top 10 listed players rose from 17.28 msf in FY17 to 28.07 msf in 9M FY21.The market share of sales of top 10 listed realty developers has almost doubled from 11 percent of sales in FY20 to 19 percent in FY21. Sobha Group during FY21 achieved the highest ever sales value in the history of the company. It clocked sales volume of 4013381 sft valued at Rs 31.37 billion. The company gained 9 percent higher sales in value terms and 10 percent higher average price realisation as compared to FY20. Godrej Properties notched up impressive sales in the March 21 quarter.It registered the best ever sales booking of Rs 2,630 crore, a 77 percent sequential improvement. Seven new launches during the quarter contributed to 58 percent of total bookings. Godrej Property's FY21 sales bookings went up by 14 percent yoy.In volume terms, the bookings during March quarter rose 74 percent sequentially to around 4.2 msft. The company has lined up 19 new launches in FY22. With the increase in scale of operations, the company expects the booking value to top Rs 10,000 crore. Tata Realty and Infrastructure Limited notched up 120 percent of its FY21 sales target in the residential segment. The revenue for residential real estate grew by Rs 200 crore plus, up 15 percent from last year. What is also benefiting big listed players is the consumers' preference. According to CII- Anarock Consumer Survey of February 2022, as against 52 percent homebuyers preferring branded players in the pre-Covid times, 61 percent home buyers are going in for them post- Covid too. As many as 86 percent NRIs want to buy from branded players. On the other hand, the share of unbranded developers has dropped from 48-39 percent. While small and weaker players are finding it difficult to receive funding listed developers are getting bank funding at 8-9 percent. Despite the pandemic, big listed players are also able to raise money through IPOs. Lodha Developers have successfully raised Rs 740 crore in pre-IPO placement from a dozen foreign portfolio investors. For smaller players, bank funding is not available. Few of those who are able to secure it, get it at an interest rate of 13 percent or more. Funds from NBFCs, earlier a major source for developers, have dried up.