Increasing prices of transfer of development rights (TDR), which had bottomed in the March quarter of 2008-2009, augurs well for HDIL. TDR prices have spiked 80 per cent from levels of Rs 1,100 per sqft in March 2009 quarter and will benefit HDIL which is executing the first phase of the airport slum rehabilitation Real Estate project where it has TDRs of nearly 45 mnsqft. Almost all the revenues in the current fiscal are likely to come from the sale of about 3 million sqft of TDRs. The company launched three residential projects totaling 1.9 mnsqft in Andheri and Kurla, in Mumbai. Considering the high demand (it has managed to sell 80 per cent of the 1,814 units at these sites), the company raised prices between 5-14 per cent. In addition to these, HDIL plans to launch 2 mnsqft of residential projects in Mumbai in the current fiscal. A key concern for HDIL was the debt levels, which have come down significantly post the Rs 1,688 crore QIP in July 2009. The company has used over 80 per cent of this to repay debt and bring down its net debt-equity ratio to manageable levels of 0.44. While the residential project launched in different parts of Mumbai will yield revenues in 2010-11 and 2011-12 (the company follows the completion method of accounting) and the increasing prices of TDRs are a plus, the current quarter revenues and operating profit are expected to come down by 64 per cent and 79 per cent to Rs 200 crore and Rs 97 crore, respectively. At the current levels, the stock is expensive.
Indiabulls Real Estate:- Indiabulls Real Estate(IBREL) has been able to lease out 0.7 mbsqft of space at the One Indiabulls Centre (Mumbai) at Rs 175 sqft per month. Considering that this is higher than the earlier rates of Rs 150 per square feet, both at the Jupiter and Elphinstone Mills, and future negotiations are likely to be at the new rate, it should boos cash flow of its Singapore-listed subsidiary Indiabulls Properties Investment Trust, which undertakes the leasing operations. A rights issue by IPIT to the tune of Rs 600 crore should also help reduce a part of its Rs 636 crore debt. On the residential sales front, IBREL sold all the units(0.53 mnsqft) of the first phase of its Sky project in Mumbai and has also launched three residential projects next to its One Centre. While the company launched about 9 mnsqft in 2008-09, it is planning to launch about 10 mnsqft in 2009-10, of which 5 mnsqft has already been launched. The company has also been the highest bidder at Rs 1,376 crore for the Mantralaya development project in Mumbai, which could add 1.5 mnsqft to its land bank and about Rs 29 to its NAV. The Rs 1,500 crore IPO of IBRELs subsidiary, Indiabulls Power, should help it to fund the capital requirements of power projects in Maharashtra.
While the cash flow from the proposed rights issue of IPIT, IPO of its power subsidiary and the QIP (Rs 2,650 crore) of IBREL should help matters, growth in its various businesses will depend on the pace of execution. In realty, while thus far the construction work at its NCR and Channai work is going on, other properties are facing delays according to an ICICI Securities report. While cash is not an issue for IBREL (it has Rs 3,000 crore worth Rs 75 per share), any delay in execution of it’s residential, SEZs (not yet notified) or power projects could be costly. Analysts peg the sum of parts valuations (power and No replies - reply

Ramnath believes that improvement in profitability will depend on future Real estate projects. “Profitability will improve only after subsequent new Real Estate projects are launched at higher prices as compared to previous projects which we believe is unlikely in the current scenario.
Developers are likely to hold on to current(increased) price levels until demand increases significantly from current lavels.” The worrying factor for realty players continues to be the commercial and retail space, which suffer from oversupply and will take at least another two quarters to recover. In a recent report on the Real Estate sector, a JP Morgan report says that rentals for office space have already corrected by 30-40 per cent from their peak levels on the back of slow demand and leasing activity and vacancy rates remain high at over 10-15 per cent across key Real Estate markets.
The research firm believes that while demand from domestic corporate has started to firm up, IT/ITES demand is likely to remain subdued. We review the operations of the largest Real Estate players by Real Estate market capitalization in the Real Estate sector.

Customers today want nothing but the best when buying a house. But, the jury is still out on what exactly makes a property click for them
Day: Sunday. Place: Greater Noida Expressway. Time: 2pm. On the way from Delhi to Greater Noida on any Saturday or Sunday, you would
find tents of realtors. Staffers of realty companies sit inside these makeshift tents, and there is a huge a stretch of land behind the tents. Naturally, the staffers of realty firms wait for their prospective customers.
However, what strikes any passerby is that in most such tents, either there is nobody or only a few people enquiring about the details of the projects. Given the fact that realty market is reviving after realtors slashed the cost of flats, floors and plots, the above scene looks a little confusing. The pertinent question that arises is whether customers are avoiding projects where construction work has not started at all. The jury is still out on this issue, but some experts on realty matters admit that unlike in the past the new-age customer is very smart and he/she ensures that their investment does not create headache for him/her later. Hence, they thoroughly check the background of realty firms before taking the final call. They even inspect past projects of builders, whose current projects are of interest to them.
If there is even an iota of truth in the argument that prospective customers prefer to book their house in only ongoing projects, where they can see some flurry of activity, then DLF's Capital Green project in Phase-II is an exception. Booking for the project was commenced on September 22 and on the very first day, over three thousand people made their bookings with earnest money - and for 1250 flats on offer, bookings were three times the figure. This is enough to prove that realty market is improving, even if it is not on fire.
However, Sunil Jindal, CEO of SVP group, has a different take on this matter. "I can tell you from my own experience that more often than not, customers invest in those properties where they find some kind of activity. If they see that work is on, then they invest. I have observed this tendency among customers in our many projects. Let alone the projects of big-time realty firms, selling flat, floor or plot on barren land is not at all an easy task. Selling dream is not possible nowadays as media has exposed the handiwork of a large number of realty firms in cornering huge sums from people after promising the moon," Jindal says. RK Arora, CMD of Supertech Limited, takes a different line and says that it is not right to say customers prefer to book their dream houses only when they see some kind of construction work in progress. "If that is the case then all the realty firms will start their projects and easily sell their products. Fact of the matter is, nobody knows which project can kick up a storm in the market and which one will fall flat."
Meanwhile, Anu Gupta, director of realty advisory Century 21, says it is a huge task to read the mindset of any particular customer. Of course, some prefer to book their houses where construction work is on. That gives them a huge a sense of confidence. However, the image of some realty firms too counts. At the end of the day, one thing is absolutely clear that nobody can say with final authority as to what type of realty project or projects will make a dent in the market.
Courtesy:- ET dt:- 30-10-2009

Premier Inn, the UK’s largest hotel chain, is popular among international travelers as a budget hotel. But in India, where it will open its first hotel in Bangalore early next month, Premier Inn is pitching itself as a value-for money mid-market brand.

“In India we realized that the consumers’ connotation of a budget hotel means something that might not offer quality. So we decided to term ourselves as value for money mid-market hotel brand,” says Aly Shariff, managing director of Premier Inn, which plans to build 80 hotels across the country for an investment of 300 million pounds.

It’s not an exception, though. As a rule, most international hotel chains are positioning themselves higher than their global equity in India, thanks to the c http://www.propertycafeteria.com/prime-property.aspxountry’s peculiar business model for building and running hotels that just can’t survive here without restaurants and banqueting facilities. For example, Park Inn, an international three-star hotel chain belonging to the US-based Carlson Hotels Worldwide, is branded as four-star hotel in India.

“Mid-market hotels in the western countries do not have elaborate food and beverages options or room service since people tend to be select service hotels. But in India, food and beverages contributes significantly to the overall hotel revenues and so most international mid-market brands tend position themselves as 4 star,” says Ajay Bakaya, executive director of Sarovar Hotels & Resorts that runs Park Inn and Park Plaza hotels in India under a franchisee agreement with Carlson.

In India, where the concept of ‘select service hotels’ does not exist, food and beverages account for about one third of a hotel’s overall revenues, according to industry estimates. Total ancillary services in a 5 star hotel, which also include renting of banquet halls, spas and night clubs, could constitute as much as 45% of a hotel’s business here.

In India, hotels are food and beverages destinations and host weddings unlike the western countries,” says Rajiv Menon, area vice president (India, Pakistan, Malaysia and Maldives) of Marriott International, a US based Hotel Company.

This has forced moderately priced brands like Courtyard by Marriott to offer elaborate in-house dining services, concept restaurants or banqueting services in India, while globally they have elaborate dining options outside the hotels, he says.

Another aspect that’s making hotels to upgrade their positioning is the high real estate costs, says Siddharth Thaker, executive director of hotel consultant HVS India. According to him, real estate costs in India at 35-40% of total project costs is double that of global average. “This leads most international hotel brands to position themselves higher than what they are branded globally so that they can become profitable faster.” This trend, however, can confuse international travelers visiting India and Indians traveling abroad. It can even lead to cannibalization of brands, warns Larry Malarkar, an independent hotel consultant.

Theformerinvestmentportfolio.aspx/">Starwood Hotels regional director expects stricter branding standards in the future as most international hotel chains are now introducing multiple brands in the country. “If international hotel brands do not work towards uniform branding, it could lead to cannibalization of brands,” says Mr Malarkar.

Some hoteliers have started doing that, by realigning hotel brands to position them as per global markets.

For instance, ITC Maurya Sheraton in Delhi was recently rebranded as ITC Maurya-The Luxury Collection as the hotel offered far more facilities than what brand Sheraton offers globally. This made Starwood Hotels and ITC Hotels to rebrand the hotel, an ITC spokeswoman said.

Single-brand chains like Premier Inn may not be too bothered about such confusion, but the Carlsons and Marriott’s may go the Starwood way as India steadily climbs to the top of the world.

Courtesy:- ET dt:- 23-10-2009
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The foreign investment promotion board (FIPB), the apex body that clears foreign capital inflow into the country, has allowed New Delhi-based Capricorn Hospitality Services to seek Rs 576 cr foreign investments worth 49% of its equity. The funds will be used for making downstream investments.

The FIPB has also allowed Hyderabad based Indus Renewable Energy to bring in Rs 500 cr to invest in hydroelectric power projects and Dawnay Day AV India Advisors to infuse a foreign capital of Rs 30 cr to start commodity broking in the country, the finance ministry said in a statement here.

The board approved investments worth Rs 1,360.5 cr on October 9, the ministry said. The board also allowed Monsanto India to undertake business activities involving genetically engineered cells and material.

The board, however, deferred decisions on Jet Airways’ proposal to raise capital from foreign institutional investors and Analjit Singh’s and Asim Ghosh’s proposals to divest part of their stake in Vodafone Essar.

Courtesy:- ET dt:- 23-10-2009