Real estate major Unitech Ltd sold properties worth Rs 701 crore during the first quarter of this fiscal, down by 31 per cent as compared to the year-ago period.
The company had registered a sales booking of Rs 1,020 crore during the April-June quarter of last fiscal.
According to operational update posted on the company’s Web site, Unitech sold 1.51 million sq ft of area in the first quarter of the 2012-13 fiscal as against 1.9 million sq ft in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The average sales realisation also fell to Rs 4,632 per sq ft in the first quarter of this fiscal as against Rs 5,361 per sq ft in the year-ago period.
Of the total sales booking of Rs 701 crore in the April-June quarter, housing contributed sales of Rs 607 crore and the non-residential segment Rs 94 crore. Noida and Greater Noida contributed the bulk of sales in the last quarter.
The real estate sector is witnessing a slowdown since the last two-three years. Housing demand has been hit due largely to the high interest rate on home loans as well as credit to developers.
Earlier this week, Unitech reported a 53 per cent decline in consolidated net profit at Rs 45.88 crore for the quarter ended June 30 against Rs 98.36 crore in the year-ago period.
Total income fell by 36 per cent at Rs 442.28 crore in the first quarter of this fiscal as against Rs 686.83 crore in the corresponding period of last year.
“The company’s focus continues to be on ramping up construction activity and is taking several measures to this end. A lot of emphasis is also being laid on improving various processes to drive efficiencies and reduce costs,” Unitech Managing Director Ajay Chandra had said.