DLF clocks higher Q3 revenue, profit despite sharp fall in sales

Bengaluru/New Delhi: Real estate developer DLF Ltd's new sales booking in the October-December quarter fell sharply to ₹419 crore, compared to ₹12,093 crore in the corresponding year-ago period, due to the absence of residential project launches.

In Q3 of 2024-25, sales momentum was driven primarily by its super-luxury project, The Dahlias, in Gurugram.

The Gurugram-headquartered firm aims to clock sales of around ₹20,000-22,000 crore in 2025-26. DLF has already clocked ₹16,169 crore of sales bookings in the first nine months of FY26.

“We remain confident of achieving our annual guidance and will continue to bring our new product offerings in line with our stated medium-term plan,” DLF said in a stock exchange filing on Thursday.

Despite the decline in sales, DLF's revenue from operations and net profit both grew in the quarter ending December.

The developer reported a 13.6% rise in net profit to ₹1,203.36 crore in the third quarter, compared with ₹1,058.73 crore in the year-ago period.

Revenue from operations also rose 32.2% to ₹2,020.22 crore during the period. In real estate, revenue recognition happens when project construction milestones are met.

“We delivered a strong surplus cash generation of ₹3,876 crore during the quarter, which led to the successful achievement of our stated goal of achieving a zero gross debt level. Net cash position stood at ₹11,660 crore,” DLF added.

In the third quarter, DLF also added a retail property, DLF Summit Plaza, in DLF5, Gurugram, to its annuity or rental portfolio, strengthening its retail presence to a cumulative area of 5 million sq ft. DLF has one of the largest annuity portfolios in the country, with an operational portfolio (office and retail combined) of 49 million sq ft, along with under-construction projects and a strong future pipeline.

Launch schedule

In the January-March quarter, considered a seasonally strong period for real estate sales and project launches, DLF is planning multiple launches.

It plans to launch fresh inventory for sale in the high-end Dahlias project and senior living homes as part of its Arbour project in Gurugram, as well as plots in Gurugram and Panchkula, said a person familiar with the company's plans.

While the overall real estate market is showing some signs of plateauing, the top developers continue to sell well. India's top four developers—DLF, Godrej Properties Ltd (GPL), Lodha Developers Ltd and Prestige Estates Projects Ltd—are collectively aiming to cross ₹1 trillion in residential sales in FY26, marking the strongest year yet for branded players.

GPL has set the highest sales target of ₹32,500 crore for FY26 among the top four developers. In the third quarter, Godrej Properties reported the highest sales bookings of ₹8,421 crore, driven by strong demand for its residential projects across major cities. Mumbai's Lodha Developers recorded its best-ever quarterly pre-sales or sales bookings of ₹5,620 crore during the same period, driven by robust sustenance sales (sales from existing inventory).

Bengaluru-based Prestige reported ₹4,183.6 crore of sales bookings in the December-ended quarter. All four developers are confident they will meet their sales guidance this year.

Pankaj Kumar, vice president-fundamental research at Kotak Securities, in a recent note, said that modest pre-sales are expected across its residential real estate coverage in Q3FY26, largely due to lower launch activity.

“Aggregate pre-sales of our universe are likely to decline, primarily driven by a sharp year-on-year fall in DLF’s pre-sales, which had a high base in the corresponding quarter last year,” Kumar said.