Shares of Bangalore based property developer Sobha dropped after it released the second quarter sales area and price numbers that were unimpressive. The company’s share price has been on a downtrend in the last six months.

The company's second quarter 2015-16 sales area numbers were mixed. The company had sold 0.85 million sq ft (msf) this quarter – an increase of 2 per cent compared to a year ago. This is also higher by 1 per cent sequentially. In the first half of 2015-16, sales improved 6 per cent, compared to the same period a year ago.

The company reported strong sales momentum in Chennai, where the area sold nearly doubled sequentially. Other smaller geographies such as Coimbatore, Cochin, Calicut, Thrissur and Mysore also saw sequential pick-up in sales.

However, performance in its primary market of Bengaluru was subdued. The company had sold 0.6 msf this quarter, down from 0.7 msf sold in the previous quarter. Also, sales in Pune market also continued to lag.

Another concern, which may have hurt sentiment, is the drop in sales price. Average realisation dipped marginally to Rs 6,270 per sq ft, down from Rs 6,321 in the last quarter. What is worrisome is that the price is down 11 per cent year-on-year.

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