DLF's Q4 net profit up 66% to Rs 247.73 crore

Its net profit stood at Rs 149.14 crore in the year-ago period, the company said in a regulatory filing.

Total income, however, fell to Rs 1,845.92 crore during January-March quarter of last fiscal from Rs 2,511.37 crore in the corresponding period of the previous year.

During the full 2017-18 fiscal, the company's net profit jumped sharply to Rs 4,463.86 crore from Rs 714.79 crore in the previous year due to an exceptional gain on account of fair valuation of DLF's residual stake in its JV firm DCCDL.

Total income, however, fell to Rs 7,663.71 crore last fiscal from Rs 8,940.51 crore in the 2016-17 financial year.

DLF promoters sold 40 per cent stake in the rental arm DLF Cyber City Developers Ltd (DCCDL) for nearly Rs 12,000 crore. The deal included sale of 33.33 per cent stake to GIC for about Rs 9,000 crore. Post this deal, DLF's stake in the DCCDL rose to 66.66 per cent from 60 per cent.

The board declared a final dividend of Rs 0.80 per share for the last fiscal. An interim dividend of Rs 1.20 per share has already been paid.

During the last fiscal, DLF achieved net sales of Rs 1,000 crore and completed projects of 8.6 million sq ft.

"The company remains committed to achieve its stated objective of a net debt zero level at DLF Ltd level, representing our development segment, by end of the current fiscal. The net debt which stood at Rs 6,256 crore as of March 31, 2018, is expected to be retired by end of current fiscal through equity issuances during the current year," DLF said in a statement.

The company said it witnessed increased interest in the residential business especially in its luxury portfolio located in DLF 5, Gurugram.

"The markets are expected to have bottomed out and a revival is on the cards in the medium term," DLF said, adding that the company plans to continue to focus on the premium and luxury segment to garner healthy margins.

DLF started development of initial phase of about 2 million sq ft of the Midtown project located in central Delhi. The total development potential of the project is about 7 million square ft, which is expected to be developed over the next 5-6 years.