Sunteck sees good home demand at lower prices

Luxury developer Sunteck Realty posted a 33% jump in new bookings for its second quarter this year and an 11% hike in collections on the back of pre-sales of units from its projects in Oshiwara District Center (ODC) which beat the streets expectations to keep the stock marginally up at Rs 373.

"The fence-sitters post GST and RERA, are actually seeing value in Mumbai properties and now making purchases," said Kamal Khetan, chairman and managing director of Sunteck.

The ODC area has seen the commisioning of two new flyovers, a new station and work is underway on multiple 90 feet wide roads.  In addition, the location is nestled amidst the back-office and mid-office hubs of Mumbai with corporate parks like Nirlon Knowledge Park, Nesco, and Infinity IT Park in proximity. The Sunteck City project spread across 23 acres has about 6 million square feet of sales area.

Net profit margins were down to 18% compared to 26% for the first quarter, a reduction of 8% on account of sales bookings on historically lower prices for units at ODC, the company said in a regulatory filing. Total income, however, rose by 160% from Rs 133 crore last quarter to Rs 347 Crore once again thanks to sales in the ODC area.

The company has also received an Rs 500 crore cash infusion from a QIP executed a fortnight ago. Sunteck Realty is one of a handful of luxury real estate developers in Mumbai who has seen its stock jump by close to to 60% in the past four months with a market cap of Rs 5300 crore putting it in list of the top ten largest publicly-traded real estate companies in the country.

The real estate market currently is host to a bevy of opportunities with distressed companies bearing the brunt of regulatory changes. Sunteck which has net debt of Rs 200 crore could potentially acquire such players.  Analysts say Sunteck is primed for scaling up businesses in the Mumbai markets in the next couple quarters through both organic and inorganic routes.

In the next few quarters Sunteck's officials say they also want to enhance a rental portfolio encompassing 2.6 million square feet of retail and commercial facilities that they project will generate further income of between Rs 450 crore and Rs 500 crore annually.