Embassy REIT to invest ₹2,300 crore to develop nearly 6 million sq ft commercial space

Embassy Office Parks REIT (Embassy REIT) on Friday posted a 15% year-on-year drop in consolidated net profit to ₹214.79 crore for the quarter ended on 31 December. The company reported a net profit of ₹253.45 crore for the same period last year.

Income grew 4.89% year-on-year to ₹595.94 crore during the quarter under review against ₹568.12 crore in the same period last year. EPS for the quarter stood at ₹2.72 compared with ₹3.28 posted last year.

The board of directors of Embassy Office Parks Management Services Private Limited (EOPMSPL), manager to Embassy REIT, at its Board Meeting declared a distribution of ₹431.30 crore for 3Q FY2021. This translates to a Distribution per Unit (DPU) of ₹4.55 for the third quarter on the expanded unit base of 947.89 million units, post the issuance of 176.23 million new units in December 2020 in connection with the acquisition of Embassy TechVillage (ETV).

“As India’s outlook steadily improves with a continued downward trend in active COVID-19 cases and the encouraging progress on vaccine roll-out, we remain optimistic that Indian office leasing demand will continue to increase as occupiers accelerate their return-to-work programs,” said Michael Holland, chief executive officer of Embassy REIT.

The recent successful ₹9,780 crore acquisition of Embassy TechVillage in Bengaluru cements its position as a landlord of choice for the world’s top companies, he added.

Vikaash Khdloya, Embassy REIT deputy chief executive officer and chief operating officer, said the company will be investing ₹2,300 crore over the next three years to develop 5.7 million sq ft of commercial space.

He said the company would also be looking at inorganic growth opportunities in cities like Bengaluru, Pune and Hyderabad.

Embassy REIT is India’s first publicly listed Real Estate Investment Trust. It owns and operates a 42.4 million square feet portfolio of eight infrastructure-like office parks and four city-centre office buildings in India’s best-performing office markets of Bengaluru, Mumbai, Pune, and the National Capital Region. The portfolio comprises 32.3 million square feet completed operating area and is home to over 200 of the world’s leading companies.