Real Estate Shares Touch The Bottom

Current reports show that real estate shares are under heavy pressure of selling. Last Tuesday BSE real estate index was closed at 1,822.14 falling down by 3 %.
Real estate shares fall deeper

Real estate shares fall deeper due to higher interest rates and sluggish real estate market.

Real estate shares are under heavy pressure to sell off mainly because of profit-booking. Real estate investors’ sentiment was all the more hurt by the 7.8 % inflation of September. This was the highest in all the ten months of the year.

The 3% of fall of real estate shares was the highest among all the sectors. The shares of all real estate majors also affected heavily. DLF shares were sold at Rs.208 with a decline of 4.3%. Another real estate major Unitech fell to Rs.25.65 after facing a decline of 4.8 %.

The biggest real estate loser was Anant Raj Industries which dropped by 6.8%. HDIL had the second worst position as it had a drop by 5.7%. Continue reading

HUL sells leasehold rights for Mumbai property

FMCG major Hindustan Unilever Ltd (HUL) on Wednesday said the company has sold its leasehold rights of a property in Mumbai for Rs 452.5 crore to Ajay Piramal Group firm Piramal Realty.

HUL and entities of Piramal Realty have signed an agreement for assignment of HUL’s leasehold rights of the land and building named ‘Gulita’ situated at Mumbai for Rs 452.5 crore, HUL said in a filing to the BSE.

The consideration includes both fixed and variable components, it added.

According to sources, realty consultant Jones Lang LaSalle India negotiated the deal on behalf of Piramal Realty.

The property was taken on lease from Maharashtra government by HUL and used as a training centre, a source said, adding Piramal Realty will use the premises to develop a new residential complex.

In the past few years, HUL has been selling off some of properties it owns, including some in Gurgaon and Mumbai, to unlock value.

Shares of HUL today closed at Rs 399.55 on the BSE, down 1.08 per cent from its previous close.

Godrej Properties Stands Tall, But Weak Demand is a Concern.

Worried about economic and political factors influencing the real estate sector, investors have dumped real estate stocks in the past few months. The 15-member BSE realty index is down by 40 percent in past one year. The members of the index have had varying degrees of fall in their stock prices ranging between 8.5 percent and 81 percent during the same period. However, through all this, the Godrej Properties scrip has not only held its ground, but also registered 19 percent appreciation in price in the last one year.

One of the few business houses to be in real estate, Godrej Properties is a national real estate developer with presence across 11 cities in mid-income housing development. One of the biggest advantage enjoyed by the company is the equity of its brand “Godrej”. At a time when the sector is losing investor confidence due to some of its players’ supposed involvement in corruption, having a strong and reliable brand in the realty space could not have been more cherished by Godrej Properties.

Given the command of high interest rates, high influence is yet another issue for real estate companies. The low capital-intensive model is a good change over other capital-intensive companies. The fourth quarter ended March 2011 has been the best one for the company driven by sales from its projects in Ahmedabad and Gurgaon. The company is expected to launch 4.5-5.5 million square feet area in fiscal 2012.

Though, one of the concerns is its geographic concentration of the company’s landbank around half of which is located in Ahmedabad and another concern is the weak demand in Mumbai market where the company’s ambitious project ‘The Trees’ is being constructed at Vikhroli. The demand should recover by the next 02 years.

Siva Group bought 13.9% Stake in Arihant Housing

Chennai Properties - Real Estate India - Villa Viviana
The Siva Group owned by NRI C Sivasankaran has acquired a stake of 13.88% in Arihant Foundations and Housing which is a Chennai based firm.
On Monday, Arihant informed the Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) that Saravna Enterprises, Siva Projects Engineering and Enterprises and S Jayalakshmi have picked up the stake. Before this deal, Siva Group held 0.32% stake.
Arihant is a leading player in the realty market. This is also evident by its net sales of Rs 158.9 cr. and net profit of Rs 2.8 cr. in the time period of September 2008 to September 2009. It also has a surplus of Rs. 138.2 cr.

A top official of Arihant said that Siva Group has bought the stake as part of their treasury operations. Although promoters have a stake of 65% in Arihant, but dilution is still not needed. The Siva Group has entered the stake market a few months ago. Recently, it bought 12% stake in Ruchi Soya Industries.

Godrej to develop Vikhroli property

Godrej Industries has entered into an agreement with Godrej & Boyce and Godrej Properties to form a special purpose vehicle for developing its property at Vikhroli, the company said in a communique to the BSE.
Without divulging details on the area to be developed, it said that the board of directors, through a circular resolution on Wednesday approved the proposal.
The Godrej group owns about 5,000 acres in Vikhroli. Though a part of the land has been used for residential and commercial purposes, the group still has huge vacant property left that can be developed before the Urban Land Ceiling Act is repealed.
The binding MoU provides for setting up a suitable SPV to execute joint development of the property as also the commercial terms for such development including the sharing of costs, revenues and profit. The Godrej Industries scrip was up 6% at Rs 201 on Wednesday.

Unity Infra gets 55 crores’ order

Construction company, Unity Infra projects said that it has received a contract worth Rs 54.56 crore from Amanora Park Town for construction-related works. The scope of work includes construction of six towers among others, Unity Infra projects said in a filing to the Bombay Stock Exchange. The project is scheduled to be completed in 29 months. Shares of the company closed at Rs 408.55, up 0.91% on the Bombay Stock Exchange.