Listed Developers Trim Debt by 54% in Q1 FY25 against Peak Year FY19-end

Net debt of top 8 listed developers collectively at approx. INR 20,808 Cr as on Q1 FY 2025-end, against approx. INR 44,817 Cr at Q4 FY2019-end
In last decade, debt of these listed players was at its peak at FY 2019-end
Net debt declines supported by a significant jump in the collective booking values – INR 27,144 Cr in FY 2019, up 234% in FY2024-end to a whopping INR 90,573 Cr
In Q1 FY2025 alone, the booking value of these 8 listed developers stands at INR 26,832 Cr

Mumbai October 2024: With residential sales creating a new peak across the top 7 cities in the last one year, buyer demand is heavily in favour of branded developers. The top eight listed players certainly have little to complain about, with remarkable sales seen across their projects.

Dr. Prashant Thakur, Regional Director & Head – Research, ANAROCK Group, says, “An analysis of the financial data of the top eight listed developers by ANAROCK shows a significant rise in their sales revenue, and their net debt has reduced by over 54% from the previous peak in FY 2019. The net debt of the top eight players collectively reduced to approx. INR 20,808 Cr by Q1 FY 2025, from over INR 44,817 Cr in Q4 FY 2019 (when the overall debt of these listed players was at its peak).

The top 8 listed players – Sobha Ltd., Puravankara Ltd., Prestige Estates, Kolte Patil, Mahindra Lifespace Developers Ltd., Godrej Properties Ltd., DLF Limited, and Lodha Developers (Macrotech) – regularly report their cost of debt in investor presentations.

The top developers to see a significant debt reduction between Q4 FY 2019 and Q1 FY 2025 are DLF Ltd. (165+% decline by gaining surplus cash of INR 2,896 Cr.) and Kolte Patil (107% reduction by gaining surplus cash of INR 37 Cr). Lodha reduced its net debt by 83% from Q4 FY2019 to Q1 FY25.

“Some players even saw their net debt rise in this period,” says Dr. Thakur. “However, these developers also saw a high jump in their booking values over the year. The rise in debt is mainly due to their aggressive expansion across the geographies – many have been on a land buying spree across cities.”

The net debt decline of the other players is due to the significant jump seen in the booking values over the last few quarters. According to their investor presentations, FY 2019 saw these top 8 listed players with a collective booking value of INR 27,144 Cr; in FY2024, it increased to approx. INR 90,573 Cr – thereby rising by a whopping 234% in this period.

Interestingly, the first quarter of this financial year (Q1 FY2025) alone saw their collective booking value at INR 26,832 Cr – nearly 99% of the total value clocked in entire FY 2019, and 30% of the total value in the whole of FY 2024. This is significant, considering that there are three more quarters left in the ongoing financial year.