DLF Vs Macrotech Developers – Future Plans, Financials and More

DLF Vs Macrotech Developers: The Indian economy is growing rapidly and along with it is great urbanisation and increase in standards of living. The residential segment, especially in FY23 has its best year so far, beating the previous record set in FY14. Such is the state of India’s thriving real estate market where developers who worked the previous decade constructing these properties are finally cashing in the big bucks. 

Let us look at two such real estate developers and understand a bit about the industry and then we will compare the financial performance of DLF Vs Macrotech Developers & see how they vary despite operating in the same industry.

DLF Vs Macrotech Developers – Company Overview 

DLF

DLF is a real estate developer established in 1946 by Chaudhary Raghvendra Singh. The business started with the creation of 22 urban colonies in Delhi. In 1985 it ventured into developing residential, commercial, and retail properties in the upcoming region of Gurugram.

Today, the Company has developed multiple properties across 15 states & 24 cities. It has completed over 158 real estate projects spread across 334 Million Square feet.

The luxury residential complexes of the developer are spread across 11 cities. DLF has completed 132 residential projects spread across an area of 27.96 million Sqft. In the residential segment, DLF has One Midtown in the under-construction property. Ready-to-move-in property The Crest, and three properties in Gurugram in the sold-out category.

DLF has constructed its office spaces in Chennai, Delhi, Gurugram, Hyderabad, Chandigarh, Kolkata, and Noida, which are leased out to other Multinational Conglomerates. Currently, DLF has leased its office spaces in 14 Million Sqft (msf) in the Special Economic Zone (SEZ) area and 18 msf in the non-SEZ area.  In the retail space, the Company has leased out 3.8 msf of retail space in Mall of India, Emporio, Promenade, DLF Avenue, and City Centre.

During FY23, the Company witnessed a great response to its residential project in Gurugram. The project received a pre-formal launch sale worth Rs. 8000 Cr. In the retail segment, the occupancy levels remained above 90%. 

Macrotech Developers

Lodha Group-owned Macrotech Developers (MDL) has been a part of India’s prime real estate journey since 1986. The Company is involved in developing mid-income & premium properties mostly around the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR). The affordable mid-income portfolio includes CASA by Lodha and Crown-Lodha Quality Homes.

The premium projects include brands Lodha & Lodha Luxury. Apart from its luxury residential properties, it is also involved in building a Logistical & Industrial Park on 800 Acres of land in Palava, located near Jawaharlal Nehru Port. The Company has also developed commercial spaces under iThink, Lodha Excelus, and Lodha Supremus.

The Mumbai metropolitan region is considered India’s most desirable real estate market, one in which Macrotech has a majority of its properties. As a result, Lodha maintains a strong brand value & is currently using this to expand into areas of South Central Mumbai, Thane & Extended suburbs around the MMR.

Macrotech has also partnered with Companies in Bangalore & Pune, to expand its presence out of Mumbai. In 2019 the Lodha Group also partnered with Bain Capital & Ivanhoe Cambridge to develop a Pan-India green digital infrastructure platform. The platform will jointly invest $1 Billion to create 30 Million Square feet of operating assets in logistics & industrial parks to serve India’s digital Economy.

DLF Vs Macrotech Developers – Industry Overview

The Indian economy continued to exhibit a resilient performance despite global uncertainties. The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) expects the Indian economy to be amongst the fastest-growing economies in FY 2023-24 led by improving macroeconomic fundamentals and sustained momentum in the domestic economy.

Even though the global economy faced multiple problems, India remained resilient. The calendar year 2023 saw 53 deals collectively worth $5.8 Billion worth of investments from institutional investors. This involved a 14% increase in investments compared to the previous year.

The residential segment exhibited a strong performance during the year despite several headwinds. It saw record sales in the Calendar Year (CY) 2022, surpassing the previous peak in 2014. The market saw record sales of 3.65 Lakh units, which broke the previous high of 3.43 Lakh units in 2014.

The office space category showed resiliency and began to recover gradually, resulting in improved occupancy levels across quality assets. This recovery was primarily led by back-to-office policies for the majority. Office leasing activity exhibited a near-equal demand as compared to the pre-pandemic period. Gross office absorption for CY22 was 54.8 msf, which increased by 48.5% from 53.4 msf in CY21.

DLF Vs Macrotech Developers – Financials

Revenue & Net Profit

Let us start by comparing the revenues of DLF vs Macrotech Developers individually.

DLF reported a revenue of Rs. 5694 Cr in FY23, a muted year for the Company as compared to FY22 revenue of Rs. 5715 Cr in FY22. The revenue trend of DLF has been disappointing in the past 5 years as we see a consistent drop in the topline from the 5 years high of Rs. 8366 Cr in FY19.

Macrotech’s performance has also been somewhat similar as its revenues touched a high of Rs. 12,442 Cr in FY20 and dropped severely the next year. In FY23, the Company reported a revenue of Rs. 9470 Cr, which increased by 3% from Rs. 9233 Cr in FY22.

Here we will be comparing the profitability of DLF vs Macrotech Developers individually. In terms of profitability, DLF has put up a great performance due to an 11% drop in land acquisition costs. Net Profits jumped 36%, from Rs. 1500 Cr in FY22 to Rs. 2033 Cr in FY23. Although the Profits have been very inconsistent with the Company even reporting losses in FY20, its bottom line has grown at a CAGR of 11.5% since FY19.

In the case of Macrotech, we find even greater volatility in earnings which are significantly impacted due to increased land acquisition costs, that can be considered as raw material for these developers. Due to these increased costs, the Company’s Net Profits have dropped by 59% from Rs. 1209 Cr in FY22 to Rs. 490 Cr in FY23. Since FY19, the bottom line has dropped by 26% CAGR.

Profit Margins

Here we will be comparing the Profit margins of DLF vs Macrotech Developers individually.

In the short term, DLF’s operating margins are clearly superior at 34%, as compared to 11% of Macrotech’s. DLF has always maintained its margins above 30%, with a 5-year average of 32.46%. Macrotech on the other hand has very volatile margins with a 5-year low reported in FY23. Its 5-year average is just 20.23%. 

Net Profit margin of DLF in FY23 was around 36% which increased from 26% since FY22. The Company has reported exceptional losses back in FY22, the absence of which artificially inflated margins in FY23. This, along with increased profits from JVs has resulted in higher profit margins.

Macrotech’s Net Profit Margins touched a 5-year low of 5.09% in FY23. These Margins have remained rather inconsistent as the Company reported exceptional losses in FY21 & FY23. The 5-year average is around 7.7%.

Return Ratios

The return on Equity of DLF is rather dismal at just 3% as of FY23. This is because the Company has huge reserves worth Rs. 37,687 Cr as of FY23 and the profit it currently makes is a drop in the ocean. The case remains similar for Macrotech as well, as the Company started with an ROE of 40% back in FY19 to currently at just 11% as of FY23.

In terms of return on Capital employed DLF has an ROCE of 4.5% as compared to 8.82% of Macrotech. Again having a huge reserve base remains a burden for DLF. 

Debt Analysis

DLF has a debt-to-equity of just 0.1x as compared to 0.86x of Macrotech in FY23. Both Companies have taken on substantial debt that is slowly being paid off each year in the past 5 years. Macrotech’s debt-to-equity ratio has reduced from a high of 5.93x to just 0.86x, which is quite commendable.

Interest Coverage Ratio was 4x the interest costs in FY23 for both Companies. The ratio must always be higher by 1.5x for the Company to easily pay off its interest obligations. Here we took a look at the debt analysis of DLF vs Macrotech Developers individually.

DLF Vs Macrotech Developers – Future Plans

DLF

1. In FY24, DLF is expecting to sell 11 Million Square Feet of land worth Rs. 19,700 Cr
2. In the coming years, DLF’s pipeline will be diversified across Gurugram, Delhi NCR, and markets of Chennai, Chandigarh Tricity & Goa.
3. DLF is developing two more commercial spaces, Downtown Gurugram & Downtown Chennai on a collective land area of 19 msf, out of which only 5.4 msf is currently under construction.
4. DLF expects to double its retail portfolio from 4-4.5 msf to 9 msf through projects like Mall of India, Gurgaon
5. As DLF has significantly reduced debt, it will now utilize its surplus cash flows to fuel growth, reward shareholders, and also further deleverage its balance sheet

Macrotech Developers

1. The management believes that in the coming years, Palava City, an integrated smart township of 5000 Acres close to Mumbai will bring ~ Rs. 8000 Cr to Macrotech Developers.
2. In Bengaluru, Macrotech Developers expects to increase its market share by 2-3% every year and will capture 10% in the next 5 years.
3. The Macrotech Developers aims to bring its Debt to equity below 0.5x its equity or below 1x its Operating Cash Flow.
4. Moving into FY24, Macrotech Developers expects a 20% increase in sales value. 5-6% coming from the price and balance from value, from footfalls as well as conversions.
5. Currently Macrotech Developers ‘s Joint Development Agreement (JDA) projects contribute to around 26-27% of sales, which will increase to as much as 40% by FY24.

DLF Vs Macrotech Developers – Key Metrics

We have now understood both the Companies’ business and take a good comparative look at DLF Vs Macrotech Developers financials. Now let us look at a few Key Metrics.

Conclusion

DLF and Macrotech Developers are major real estate companies in India that have benefited from the strong rebound in the residential housing segment in FY23. However, there are some key differences in their financial performance and future outlook.DLF has demonstrated more consistent profitability (Exc. FY20) and superior operating margins compared to Macrotech.

Its net profit grew by 36% in FY23 to Rs 2,033 crore, aided by lower land acquisition costs. DLF has a strong balance sheet with low debt levels after significant deleveraging. Going forward, it plans to utilize surplus cash flows to fund growth through new residential and commercial launches across multiple cities, while also rewarding shareholders.

On the other hand, Macrotech’s financial performance has been more volatile, with net profit declining by 59% in FY23 to Rs 490 crore due to higher costs. However, it has made significant progress in reducing its debt levels from highly leveraged positions in the past.

Macrotech sees growth opportunities from large township projects like Palava City and expanding its presence in cities like Bengaluru through joint development agreements.

Overall, while both companies are poised to benefit from India’s economic growth and urbanization trends, DLF appears to be in a relatively stronger financial position currently. Its focus on scaling up the luxury/premium residential segment and expanding rental assets could provide more visible growth drivers in the near term.

Macrotech will need to execute well on its projects and cost management to translate its brand strength into sustained financial performance.

That is all for this article on DLF Vs Macrotech Developers. Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.

Written by Nasir Hussain

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