New Delhi, Jun 5 (PTI) Realty major DLF's net sales bookings rose 2 per cent to Rs 2,485 crore during the last fiscal year but fell short of target due to the nationwide lockdown imposed in March to control the COVID-19 pandemic and cancellations of units in some of its projects in Gurugram.

The company had achieved sales bookings of Rs 2,435 crore during the 2018-19 financial year and had given a guidance of Rs 2,700 crore for the 2019-20 fiscal. The company reported gross sales of Rs 3,450 crore and net sales of Rs 2,485 crore, “owing to the lockdown impact in March 2020 and Camellias cancellation," DLF said in an investor presentation.

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The gross sales bookings increased by 10 per cent to Rs 3,450 crore during the last fiscal year from Rs 3,125 crore in the previous year.

As per the presentation, DLF faced cancellation worth nearly Rs 800 crore across various projects in DLF-phase 5 in Gurugram, Haryana. Most cancellations were in its ultra luxury project Camellias.

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On the outlook of its residential development business, DLF said: "Q1 FY21 is expected be a washout, owing to the extended lockdown and lack of short-term visibility for the buyers."

The company expected some semblance of normalcy to return towards Q3 FY21.

"DLF remains poised to maintain its growth path with its strong brand image and unwavering commitment to quality catalysing the sales revival process," the presentation said.

The company has planned new projects worth 19 million sq ft. It has renewed focus on mid-income housing and plans to launch independent floors.

Besides, DLF has ready-to-sell inventories worth about Rs 9,000 crore for monetisation.

It retained the positive rental outlook with sustained success in collections, business continuity support, and positive feedback from tenants.

DLF said it has resumed construction immediately upon lifting of restrictions and minimised the lockdown-related delay that may be seen industry-wide.

"The crisis has presented an opportunity for DLF to undertake exercises in being leaner and far more efficient in terms of its costs structure," the presentation said.

On the outbreak of COVID-19 and its impact on the real estate sector, the company said: "the pandemic appears to have impacted consumer sentiment and spending appetite in the short term."

The crisis may have a longer-term impact on the economy, the nature and full extent of which can only be gauged as normalcy returns, it added.

DLF said that interest rate reductions and increased liquidity, proactively done by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI), have been received well by the industry.

However, it sought more sector-specific relief.

"Lending institutions are expected to be risk-averse, thereby accentuating funding challenges for stressed developers and accelerating consolidation.

"Industry players that maintain a strong balance sheet and possess operations expertise are expected to weather through these uncertain times," the presentation said.

The realty major on Thursday reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 1,857.76 crore in the fourth quarter of last fiscal year, mainly due to reversal of deferred tax assets (DTA) as it adopted a lower tax rate.

It had posted a net profit of Rs 436.56 crore in the year-ago period, the company had said in a regulatory filing.

The firm's total income fell to Rs 1,873.8 crore in the January-March quarter of the 2019-20 fiscal from Rs 2,660.95 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

For the entire last fiscal year, DLF reported a net loss of Rs 583.19 crore as against a net profit of Rs 1,319.22 crore in the 2018-19 financial year.

Total income fell to Rs 6,884.14 crore in 2019-20 from Rs 9,029.41 crore in the previous year.

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