Mumbai: Global ratings agency Moody’s downgraded its outlook on Lodha Developers to ‘negative’ from ‘stable’ citing liquidity concerns emanating from falling sales and rising debt burden. In the start of 2019, the agency had rated the company as ‘stable’ from its ‘positive’ rating.
The city-based company is one of the largest realty players in the country and also has projects in Britain. Moody’s has, however, affirmed the corporate family rating at B2.
“The change in outlook to negative reflects the weakening in Lodha’s liquidity profile, because of lower- than-expected operating sales and delays in execution of its planned asset sales, both in London and India,” Saranga Ranasinghe, an assistant VP and analyst at the agency said in a note.
Operating sales in Mumbai and London were weaker by 20 pc and 50 pc, respectively, compared to the agency’s expectations for the nine months to December 2018, it said. It noted that sales in Mumbai, its biggest market, were affected due to tight liquidity conditions in the three months to December 2018, but picked up in the March quarter.
