Real estate developer Lodha Group hopes to clock in R9,000 crore of sales in the current fiscal, a 12.5% jump over last year?s, as it plans to launch 7-8 million square feet of fresh residential stock in Mumbai by March 2015, the company?s managing director Abhishek Lodha said.
Lodha, an unlisted realty company had a little over Rs 8,000 crore of sales in FY14. With a penchant to grab trophy assets, the developer has acquired over Rs 8,100 crore worth of assets both in land and property (for conversion into residences) over the last two years.
These acquisitions have not been limited to Mumbai and, in fact, the company is betting big on the London property market as well. Lodha acquired two marquee assets of close to Rs 4,000 crore in the heart of London between 2013-2014 within a span of three months, and does not want to stop here as it will continue to look for acquisition opportunities there.
?We have marked a total $5 billion of investment for the London market over the next five years, which will be for both acquisition and construction. London is the second market that we focus on in addition to Mumbai and we want to build the same sort of presence and leadership that we have here,? Abhishek Lodha told FE.
In November 2013, Lodha bought Macdonald House, a seven storey property in the heart of London for Rs 3,000 crore, and in February 2014, the company bought second property in central London called New Court for around Rs 935 crore.
For funding these acquisitions and expansion plans, Lodha says that it has ?strong internal cash flows? and its current plans are financed by the company?s own funding. He also said that the company has no immediate plans to list on the bourses.
?You have to need the funds and you have to put them to good use. Currently, our own cash flows are sufficient to meet our expansion and growth plans. As and when we have plans which cannot be met with our internal cash flows, of course we will look at other avenues including a potential initial public offering,? Lodha said, refusing to give a timeline for the same.
As for the launches, Lodha has launched yet another designer project in Mumbai, this time by celebrity English designer Kelly Hoppen, a part of its upcoming New Cuffe Parade project. The 55 storey tower will house 2 and 3 BHK apartments sized around 1,300 square feet starting at Rs 2.9 crore (over Rs 22,300 per sq ft), and studio flats of about 650 sq ft starting at 1.5 crore (about Rs 23,000 per sq ft). The project is expected to be complete by the year 2018.
