India’s Brigade Enterprises Ltd on Wednesday said fourth-quarter profit more than doubled, aided by lower expenses and a one-time gain in reversing impairment losses during the COVID-19 pandemic. The real estate developer’s consolidated net profit rose to 692.5 million rupees ($8.47 million) in the quarter ended March 31 from 324.7 million rupees a year earlier. The company said it had earmarked 170 million rupees as losses related to maintaining property, plant and equipments during the pandemic.
After a revised projection, it had recovered the full impairment amount. Last year, the Bengaluru-based company had incurred a one-time cost of 199.6 million rupees. The company’s revenue from operations fell 10.5% to 8.43 billion rupees, hurt by a 23.4% slide in sales in the real estate segment. Still, Brigade’s total expenses fell about 12% due to reduced inventories from its stock of flats and projects under progress.
WHY IT MATTERS
Demand for housing in India rose by leaps and bounds despite a 250-basis point rise in lending rates for the full year. Real estate consulting firm Anarock said sales in the country’s top seven cities grew 14% year-on-year during the reported quarter due to a rising desire for home ownership. Yet factors like inflation, potential rise in interest rates and corporate layoffs could weigh on growth in the next two quarters, the firm added.