Omaxe looking to cut debt by 25%

Omaxe Ltd, New Delhi-based real estate developer, is planning to cut debt by 25% to Rs1,250 crore by the end of current financial year from Rs1,552 crore as of March 31. The company is also planning to raise Rs300 crore to be used in new projects.

“The scheduled debt repayment for the current fiscal stands at ¤625 crore. An interest component of additional ¤200 crore will also be paid this year. We are also planning to raise Rs300 crore this fiscal. So we see gross debt by the end of this fiscal at Rs1,250 crore. Of this, Rs210 crore will be deferred land payment while the banking loan will be around ¤1,000 crore, which is very comfortable for us,” said Sumit Arora, vice-president (investor relations), Omaxe.

According to the official, debt retirement of Rs625 crore this fiscal will be done through the company’s internal accruals. In 2010-11, the company paid off debt worth Rs580 crore to banks and financial institutions.

In the current financial year Omaxe is planning new launches of 10.5 million square feet, raking in Rs1,700-1,800 crore. “We will start new launches in the second quarter of the current fiscal. We hope to sell at least 50-60% of it. This year, we are also looking at delivering almost 18 million sq ft,” said Arora. In 2010-11 the company completed 22 million sq ft projects spread across 11 cities.

Omaxe reported a net profit of ¤92.7 crore for fiscal 2011, down 17.6% from Rs112.5 crore in fiscal 2010.  It booked sales of Rs1,522 crore in the last fiscal compared with Rs1,001 crore for the fiscal 2010, registering a growth of 52%.