Patel Realty expects profit to double this year on rising demand for homes in the world’s second-fastest growing major economy.
The developer may post a profit of as much as Rs.400 million ($8.2 million) in the year ending in March, compared with about 200 million rupees in the previous 12 months, Managing Director Rupen Patel said in an interview with Bloomberg in Mumbai. Earnings may gain about 80 percent next year, he said.
Sales may double to as much as Rs.3 billion by the end of next year as the company expects to increase sales from office and residence projects in Mumbai and Bangalore, Patel said. India’s young population, low penetration of mortgages and rapid urbanization are helping boost home demand, UBS AG said in a report in May.
Mumbai-based Patel Realty has a land bank of 1,100 acres (4.4 million square meters), mostly in cities such as Hyderabad, Chennai, Bangalore and Mumbai. It has 7 million square feet (650,321 square meters) under development.
Patel Engineering rose 3.6 percent to Rs.99.3 at close in Mumbai today. The stock has dropped 67 percent this year, compared with BSE-500 index’s 18 percent decline.
The company is also setting up townships in Bangalore, the New Delhi suburb of Noida and Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, under the brand ‘Neotown.’ Patel Realty will start its first residential project in the southern city of Hyderabad by year-end and aims to complete its first mall in Bangalore in two years, he said.
