DLF says debt may fall below Rs 15,500 crore by fiscal-end

NEW DELHI: DLF, the largest real estate developer in India, said it will cut debt by about a quarter to Rs 15,500 crore over the next nine months, mainly on the back of receipts from the sale of its luxury hotel chain Aman Resorts and some land divestitures.

"If both transactions happen, our net debt will come down to below Rs 15,500 crore," Tyagi said.

Delhi-based DLF had in December last year announced the sale of Aman Resorts to its original founder, Indonesian hotelier Adrian Zecha, for Rs 1,650 crore. The transaction, part of the company's non-core asset sale strategy, was supposed to close in February this year. The due date was extended to June 30, but the buyer was still unable to close the deal.

Ending the exclusivity clause with Zecha, DLF opened talks with other players. "As we speak, there are 5-6 new bidders apart from Zecha. We are confident of closure of the transaction in a short time at targeted valuations," Saurabh Chawla, executive director for finance at DLF, said in a conference call with analysts on Tuesday.

The real estate developer had on Monday reported a 38% drop in first quarter net profit to Rs 181.19 crore.