Captains Speak     

Published: May 15, 2024
Updated: May 15, 2024

Anant Raj Ltd

Ambitious expansion plans

Says Aman Sarin, director and CEO, “With its prime location, world-class amenities and unmatched luxury, we are confident this project will set new standards in residential living.” Six months ago, the company had announced that it was planning to launch two housing projects in Gurugam, expand an existing hotel space in south Delhi’s Chattarpur area to set up an office and service apartments centre, and construct close to 1,900 industrial housing units in Tirupati in Andhra Pradesh. The revenue potential for these projects is expected to be close to Rs 4,000 crore. All these projects will be launched within 6-9 months.

As far as the expansion plan for the data centre segment is concerned, the company has planned to invest Rs 10,000 crore in its data centre vertical with developments under way in Manesar, Rai and Panchkula. The company is exploring server co-location (pilot project) with a potential of 4-6 times increase in revenue compared to colocation only. It is targeting a ramp-up to 50 MW by fiscal year 2026, with further expansion planned.

INTERNAL FUNDS

The company plans to fund its expansion primarily through internal accruals generated through its existing assets. It aims to roll out the remaining 25 megawatts by December 2024. The target is to reach a 300 megawatt capacity in the next four years.

Referring to the company’s performance during fiscal year 2024, Mr Sarin says that during the year, the company focused on three projects in the real estate segment. It did group housing, fully furnished villas, and made G plus 3 and G plus 2 structures. All three projects were received very well by the market and realized a better price than what was projected.

In January 2024, the company raised Rs 500 crore by QIP. This money was used basically to retire debt and fund the general porate purposes of the company, after which the company is pretty comfortable. Net debt is Rs 290 crore, which is a substantial reduction. The cost of borrowing for the company has now come down to below 10%. Pointing out that “Anant Raj in data centres has also become a major player in North India,” Mr Sarin adds, “The company is in the process of launching more real estate projects and expanding data centre capacity.”

ROBUST GROWTH

Revealing that the company has been doing very well on the financial front, Mr Sarin adds, “Revenue from operations grew 51% yoy to Rs 1,521 crore for FY24. The March 2024 quarter saw a 56% yoy growth in revenue to Rs 453 crore. EBITDA margin remained robust at 24.4% in Q4 FY24. Profit after tax grew by 67% to Rs 84 crore in Q4 FY24 and 75% for the full fiscal year to Rs 266 crore, the company’s best profit achieved over the last 15 years. Net debt substantially reduced to Rs 290 crore for FY24, with borrowing cost below 10%. Operational cash flow improved qoq, with total cash flow inflow of Rs 260 crore in FY24.

For its data centre business, land cost is not a substantial part of the overall data centre cost due to existing ownership of land and buildings. The timeline to reach 300 MW capacity is four years. Projected revenue is Rs 75 lakh per MW per month, but subject to change based on inflation and competition. The company has a cost advantage due to lower set-up costs.