DLF reports 9% drop in Q3 net profit on lower sales

New Delhi, Feb 10, 2015: DLF LtdBSE 0.41 %, the largest domestic real-estate developer, reported a 9 per cent fall in quarterly profit late on Monday, hit by sluggish home sales in Asia’s third-largest economy.

The company, which builds homes, offices and shopping malls, said net profit for the October-December quarter fell to Rs 132 crore ($21.26 million), from Rs 145 crore, a year earlier.

Income from operations fell 5 per cent to Rs 1,957 crore, the company said in a statement, adding that it “expects sales volume of residential products to reach normal volumes in the next 12 to 18 months.”

High prices and a slow economic recovery have delayed home buying. But with the inflation easing, the central bank last month cut interest rates by 25 basis points to 7.75 per cent – a move that could improve buyer sentiment and revive sales.

DLF, India’s most indebted property company, has also been barred from capital markets by the Securities and Exchange Board of India (SEBI) for failing to disclose key information at the time of the company’s record-breaking 2007 market listing.

The developer, which had net debt of Rs 20,340 crore at end-December, has appealed the SEBI order with Securities Appellate Tribunal (SAT).

DLF is also fighting against the country’s antitrust watchdog, which has levied a fine of Rs 630 crore on the company for alleged anti-competitive practices when selling homes.