Omaxe plans to raise Rs 300 crore via equity dilution

NEW DELHI: Real estate firm Omaxe Ltd plans to raise Rs 300 crore this fiscal through selling part of its equity to fund the ongoing as well as future projects, the company's top official said.

Omaxe, which posted over Rs 1,600 crore turnover last fiscal, will launch seven projects in the July-September period, expecting that the property market will start improving from the next quarter.

"We will launch 7 projects, mostly housing, in the second quarter of this fiscal in Chandigarh, Jaipur, Indore, Bhiwadi, Rohtak, Faridabad and Vrindavan," Omaxe Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mohit Goel said.

Asked about investments, he said the company will invest about Rs 800-900 crore in 2014-15 on construction of ongoing projects and those to be launched next quarter.

On source of funding, Goel said: "It will be largely through internal accruals. We are also looking to raise Rs 300 crore as equity during this fiscal as our debt-equity ratio is comfortable". Omaxe had a gross debt of Rs 1,049 crore with a debt-equity ratio of 0.48 as on March 31.

The funds would be raised by diluting promoters' stake by 8-10 per cent depending on the market conditions, he said. Promoters currently has 74.99 per cent stake in the company which has a market cap of about Rs 2,600 crore.

Goel said the company has not yet decided on the route through which it will raise money. "It's too early to say whether it will be Institutional Placement Programme (IPP), Qualified Institutional Placement (QIP), Private Equity (PE) or Rights Issue".

On sales, Goel said Omaxe did not launch any project this quarter due to lack of approvals and as a result the sales bookings are expected to be lower.

However, he expected the sales to be better next quarter on new launches and likely improvement in the housing demand.

Overall, the company is targeting 20 per cent increase in the sales bookings this fiscal to over Rs 2,500 crore.

Omaxe has a land bank of about 4,400 acres in 30 cities across 9 states. The Delhi-based firm is executing 42 real estate projects that include 18 townships, 14 group housing and 10 commercial.