Unitech gains on plan to repay loans to mutual funds

Source :IIFL:Capital Market / 12:31 , Sep 17, 2010


Unitech gained 1.15% to Rs 88.25 at 12:31 IST on BSE, on reports the company will repay all the money it owes to mutual funds for the first time since 2001 after boosting revenue from homes sales.


Meanwhile, the BSE Sensex was up 180.23 points, or 0.93% at 19,597.72.


On BSE, 13.48 lakh shares were traded in the counter as against an average daily volume of 39.96 lakh shares in the past one quarter.
The stock hit a high of Rs 89.10 and a low of Rs 87.90 so far during the day. The stock had hit a 52-week high of Rs 114.90 on 17 September 2009 and a 52-week low of Rs 65.10 on 25 May 2010.


The large-cap stock had underperformed the market over the past one month till 16 September 2010, rising 1.22% compared with the Sensex's return of 7.57%. It had outperformed the market in past one quarter, gaining 24.20% as against 11.19% rise in the Sensex.


The company has an equity capital of Rs 503.57 crore. Face value per share is Rs 2.


Unitech has cut loans from mutual funds to Rs 60 crore and the company expects to repay the rest this month, Managing Director Sanjay Chandra said in an interview to a news agency.


Unitech expects high-end residential properies to account for a quarter of sales in the next couple of years from a fifth now, Chandra said. 


Unitech's average cost of debt has declined to 12%, from a peak of 14% in 2008, Chandra said. The New Delhi-based developer has switched to borrowing from state-run Indian banks that extend loans with longer maturities, Chandra said. The average tenure of its loans has risen to three years from two years during the crisis, he said.


Unitech, which had a peak debt of Rs 10900 crore in December 2008, has reduced liabilities to about Rs 6000 crore, Chandra said. Net debt levels have declined to about Rs 5200 crore, he said. Unitech will generate cash of between Rs 2200 crore and Rs 2300 crore this year after deducting interest costs, Chandra said.
Unitech's consolidated net profit rose 14% to Rs 180.04 crore on 53% surge in sales & other receipts to Rs 828.57 crore in Q1 June 2010 over Q1 June 2009.

Unitech board meet to appoint advisors for demerger

Source: Press Trust of India / New Delhi March 31, 2010, 11:35 IST

Unitech, the country's second largest realty firm, today said its board will meet on April 6 to discuss appointment of advisors for exploring opportunities for a potential restructuring of its businesses to unlock value for shareholders.

In a filing to the BSE, Unitech said the board will "consider appointing advisors for exploring opportunities and making suggestions to the board and the company for potential merger of subsidiaries, demerger and other forms of restructuring, or acquisitions, or spin-off with the ultimate object of enhancing and unlocking shareholder value."

According to industry sources, the realty major is planning to demerge its non-core businesses of telecom and hotels.

The new infrastructure company would include Unitech's telecom, hotel, SEZ and construction businesses, they added.

Unitech also plans to list the new company, sources said, adding that the company's shareholders would get shares in the new firm at a swap ratio, which will be decided in due course.

According to the sources, IDFC and UBS are likely to be appointed as advisors for the demerger process.

"The objective is to unlock the value of non-core businesses for Unitech shareholders. The current market price does not reflect the value embedded in the various non-core businesses of the company," a source said.

Unitech's holding in its telecom joint venture 'Uninor' would be transferred to the new company, sources said.

Norway's Telenor holds 67.25 per cent stake in Uninor, while the remaining is with Unitech. Telenor has paid over Rs 6,000 crore for the stake, valuing the company at close to Rs 10,000 crore.

Uninor has started operations in eight telecom circles and is planning to ramp up business in coming months.

Shares of Unitech were quoting at Rs 72.85, marginally up by 0.14 per cent in morning trade on the Bombay Stock Exchange.

Unitech to launch 13 new projects in 2-3 months

12 Feb 2010 03:40 AM

Real estate major Unitech today said it plans to
launch 12-13 new projects, most of them residential,
in the next few months.

“We will be launching 12-13 new projects,
predominantly in the residential side, in next 2-3 months
across the country,”
Unitech Managing Director Sanjay Chandra told here.

The total space of these new projects would be
7-8 million square feet, Chandra said.

The company is also focussing on reducing debt.
The realty firm has already brought down its debt
from Rs 10,000 crore to below Rs 6,000 crore.

“In FY11, we plan to reduce our debt by another
Rs 1,000 crore,” Chandra said.

Going forward, Unitech focus would be on affordable housing,
except in Mumbai where it would concentrate on premium
segment due to high land prices, he said.