Unitech profit jumps 10 times, bonus issued

The net profit of Unitech, India’s largest listed real estate company, jumped 10 times to Rs 357.09 crore in the quarter ended March 2007 from Rs 35.46 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year. During the period, its revenue increased by more than four times to Rs 848.71 crore from Rs 208.05 crore.

For the full financial year 2006-07, the company’s net profit increased by 13 times to Rs 983.56 crore from Rs 69.65 crore in the previous year. Its revenue increased almost four times to Rs 2,599.64 in crore 2006-07 from Rs 674.75 crore in the previous year.

The company’s consolidated profit increased nearly 14 times to Rs 1,305 crore in 2006-07 from Rs 87.65 crore in the previous year. During the year revenue increased by 255 per cent to Rs 3,388.3 crore from Rs 954.5 crore in 2005-06.

Unitech also announced a 1:1 bonus. This is the company’s second bonus issue in the last 12 months. The Unitech scrip rose by Rs 48.85, or 8.9 per cent, to close at Rs 595.90 on the Bombay Stock Exchange. The board announced a 25 per cent dividend for the financial year ended March 2007.

Unitech has decided to invest Rs 10,000 crore over the next four years in the hospitality and retail sectors. The investment will be funded through a combination of internal accruals and debt. The company would roll out 28 hotels with a cumulative 4,900 rooms in the first phase, said Sanjay Chandra, managing director Unitech. “We have identified 28 hotels sites and construction in a majority of the sites has started,” he added.

Chandra further said Unitech would not manage any of these hotels. “We are going to enter into brand-cum-management contracts with leading hotel chains for managing these properties,” he added.

“If we get good value for these properties we might explore the option of exiting from some of the properties. As a pure-play real estate developer, we are not going to be sentimentally attached to any of our properties,” Chandra said.

Chandra said Unitech owned around 11,000 acres of land. “We will start consuming around 10-12 per cent of our land bank every year. This will deliver around 30 million sq ft of built-up area. At the same time, we will continue to acquire land in 15 cities of the country where employment opportunities are going to increase tremendously,” he added.

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