DLF Ltd reported 11.6 per cent rise in net profit for the quarter ended December 31, 2012, over the year-ago period, primarily boosted by one-time gain from the sale of land asset. The top realtor by market cap saw the consolidated net profit rise to Rs 288.4 crore for the third quarter, boosted by almost tripling of other income to around Rs 1,000 crore – led by the sale of its Mumbai land property to the Lodha Developers in the last quarter.
The firm, which has been trying to retire part of the heavy debt on its books, saw net debt reduce by Rs 1,870 crore during the third quarter to Rs 21,350 crore. It had previously set a target to bring this down to Rs 18,500 crore by March 31, 2013.
The gross debt in the books of DLF at the end of Q3 FY13 stands at Rs 25,388 crore, compared to Rs 25,655 crore at the end of the Q2 FY13.
DLF recently announced the sale of its hospitality business under Aman Resorts, as well as part of the wind power business, which should show up in the Q4 results.
The firm saw EBITDA shrink to just Rs 87 crore from over Rs 800 crore in the same period previous fiscal. It also saw its finance costs move up despite snipping its gross and net debts during the quarter.
DLF said that the cost of capital continued to be high, given the cost of debt and high equity premium pricing in political and currency risk.
The company has recorded loss of Rs 94.72 crore from its hotel business and Rs 30.56 crore from its insurance business, called DLF Pramerica Life Insurance, during the quarter.
For Q3 FY13, it booked gross sales of 2.27 million sq. ft., compared to 1.59 million sq. ft. in the previous year for the same period. Under its rental business, DLF leased 0.44 million sq. ft., as compared to 0.24 million sq. ft. in the corresponding period of the last financial year.
However, its income from operations shrank almost a third to Rs 1,310 crore for Q3 FY13, compared to Rs 2,034 crore in Q3 FY12.
DLF scrip closed at Rs 248.80 a unit, down 2.03 per cent at the end of the day on the BSE.
(Edited by Sanghamitra Mandal)