Shares of Macrotech Developers, a real estate firm, extended their upward rally for the fifth straight trading session on Friday. The stock began trading strongly at ₹1,001 apiece and eventually rose to hit an intraday high of ₹1,085 on the NSE, a 8.40% increase from the previous day's closing price of ₹997.35.
The stock witnessed a sharp turnaround after reaching a 52-week low of ₹711 on February 24. On the following day, the stock soared nearly 12.30% and continued to build momentum over the next four trading sessions, resulting in an overall gain of 51%.
Macrotech Developers, which sells properties under the "Lodha" brand, is one of the leading real estate developers in the country. The company has a major presence in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR) and Pune property markets, while it recently made an entry into the Bengaluru market with one housing project.
The company's shares got listed on the stock exchanges in April 2021 after raising ₹2,500 crore through its initial public offering (IPO). The shares are currently trading 121% higher than issue price of ₹486 apiece.
For the December quarter of FY23, the company reported a 41% YoY increase in its net profit at ₹404 crore, compared to a net profit of ₹286 crore in the year-ago quarter. However, the total income fell to ₹1,902 crore in Q3FY23 from ₹2,155 crore in Q3FY22.
The company achieved its best-ever October-December sales bookings in Q3FY23, worth Rs.3,040 crore.
The company achieved pre-sales of ₹9,039 crore during the April-December period, surpassing the pre-sales recorded in the entire full year of FY22.
During the December quarter, the company reduced net debt by ₹753 crore to ₹8,042 crore, and it aims to reduce debt by nearly 40% in 2023.
In an interview with PTI, Macrotech Developers MD and CEO, Abhishek Lodha, sounded bullish on the long-term growth potential of India's residential real estate market.
Sales bookings and cash flows have been very strong so far, this fiscal year, resulting in debt reduction in Q3 FY23. "We are hoping to reduce debt further by ₹1,000 crore by the end of this fiscal year to about ₹7000 crore," Lodha said.
"We will hope to be close to ₹5,000 crore of net debt sometime by the end of this calendar year," Lodha said. However, he added that there is no plan of becoming a zero-debt company.
In its latest note, domestic brokerage firm Motilal Oswal has maintained its "buy" rating on the stock with a SOTP-based target price of ₹1,250 apiece.
The brokerage stated that the management has laid out a clear growth strategy with the aim of capturing market share in micro-markets with a niche presence. In line with its growth strategy, the company has already exceeded its full-year BD guidance by adding 11 new JDA projects with a GDV of ₹178 billion.
Earlier, ICICI Securities also retained its "buy" rating on the stock with a target price of ₹1,304 apiece. The company achieved its highest-ever sales bookings for October to December, due to a combination of monetizing ready and completed inventory, as well as launching new products, the brokerage said.
The brokerage firm also stated that the company is progressing smoothly towards achieving its sales booking target of ₹11,500 crore for FY23, as it has already accomplished 79% of the target.
15 analysts polled by MintGenie on average have a 'hold' call on the stock.
Disclaimer: The views and recommendations made above are those of individual analysts or broking companies, and not of MintGenie.
