Ladies and gentlemen, good day and welcome to the Ashiana Housing Ltd Q2 FY26 earnings conference call hosted by EY. As a reminder, all participant lines will be in the listen-only mode, and there will be an opportunity for you to ask questions after the presentation concludes. Should you need assistance during this conference, please signal an operator by pressing star and then zero on your touch-tone phone. Please note, this conference is being recorded. I now hand the conference over to Mr. Kanav Khanna from EY. Thank you, and over to you, sir.
Thanks, and welcome everyone, and thank you for joining the Q2 FY26 earnings call for Ashiana Housing Ltd. The result and the investor presentation has been mailed to you and is also available on the stock exchanges. In case you have not received the same, kindly write to us. We'll be happy to send it over. Now, to take us through the results of the quarter and half-year and answer to all your queries, we have with us the management of Ashiana Housing Ltd, Mr. Varun Gupta, whole-time director, and Mr. Vikash Dugar, CFO. We'll start the call with a brief overview of the company's performance for the quarter and half-year, and then follow it up with questions and answers.
I would like to remind you that everything said on this call that reflects an outlook for the future, or which has any forward-looking statement, must be reviewed in conjunction with the uncertainties and risks that we might face. These uncertainties and risks are included, but not limited to, what we have mentioned in the prospectus filed with the state and subsequent annual reports, which you'll find on our website. Now, with this being said, I would like to hand over the call to the management. Over to you, sir.
Good afternoon, everyone. I hope you and your loved ones are keeping well. I'll welcome you all to Q2 FY26 earnings call, and thank you for taking the time to join us today. Q2 FY26 has been a quarter of steady operational progress for Ashiana, marked by consistent sales performance and strong cash flow generation. We achieved value of area booked of INR 303.43 crores for the quarter, vis-à-vis INR 430.97 crores in the first quarter. High value of area booked in the first quarter, driven by new launches, are already in Jaipur and Phase 6 in Bhiwadi. We launched Ashiana Swarang Phase II in Chennai in the second quarter. Equivalent area constructed for Q2 FY26 at 7.25 lakh sq ft, higher by around 18% versus 6.15 lakh sq ft in the first quarter.
Total revenue for the quarter came in at INR 176.18 crores, vis-à-vis INR 302.72 crores in Q1 FY26, lower revenue attributable to lower deliveries. PAT for second quarter stood at INR 27.54 crores compared to PAT of INR 12.72 crores in the first quarter, high profit driven by mix in favor of better margin projects delivered in second quarter. The company posted pre-tax operating cash flow of INR 122.62 crores during the quarter. Cash flow continues to be healthy, driven by better collections. We acquired 22.7 acres on perpetual lease at MWC Chennai to develop a senior living project. This project has a sales value potential of approximately INR 1,200 crores. Ashiana Anmol got funded by International Finance Corporation through allotment of INR 100 crores of listed NCDs.
The company also settled a long-pending dispute related to development agreement for Ashiana Maitri Kolkata and received INR 18.5 crores as full and final settlement against security deposit of INR 12.8 crores and other expenses incurred thereof. We also initiated handovers for Ashiana Advik Phase 1 and Ashiana Tarang Phase 4B in Bhiwadi during the quarter gone by. With this, I conclude my opening remarks and look forward to your questions and suggestions. Thank you.
Thank you very much. We will now begin the question and answer session. Anyone who wishes to ask a question may press star and one on the touch-tone telephone. If you wish to remove yourself from the question queue, you may press star and two. Participants are requested to please use handsets while asking a question. Ladies and gentlemen, we will now wait for a moment while the question queue assembles. Our first question comes from the line of Himanshu from Steadford Investment Managers. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi, good afternoon. One of my questions was based on what we have given in our annual report. On page 47, we have stated that we have a launch pipeline of INR 11,000 crores still left by 30 years. But if you look at our future projects, which are nearly 5 million sq ft and land available for future development, if you include the world city, then again, it remains around 5 million sq ft, and it includes Milakpur also. Effectively, if we take 7 to 8 million sq ft, this INR 11,000 crores seems a much further task. So what all is getting included when you are saying that the launch pipeline is around INR 11,000 crores?
Himanshu, I think the launch pipeline remains strong is one word. With INR 11,000 crores in overall visibility of sales value up to FY30, I think that sales value is including revenue potential to include launched projects, the sold value of the launch projects, the unsold value of it. So all put together, I think the FY30, what we are talking about is a potential revenue that we can recognize in the company. It excludes some of the launch pipeline, but some of what will get launched may not get recognized by revenue by FY30. I think it's the revenue potential for FY30 that it means. Sorry for the ambiguity in the language if you think in the reading, but if you read it carefully, that the launch pipeline remains strong and the sales visibility is not referring to the launch pipeline.
Okay, yes. Okay, so there was some confusion on that one.
Yeah, so I apologize for the language maybe being off, but it's the total revenue potential that we're looking at in the company.
One more thing. On page 89, we have last year we did sales of 1,843 residential units, okay? On page 89, we have shown 521 units booked out of 24,000 leads generated, okay? The balance INR 1,300 crore would be all reference sale, or how do we tally that figure then? Because there is a huge gap between the leads and what's really in the figure.
Yeah, there is a huge this is just about online lead generation. There is a huge sales through CPs also now and through references. I think this is more about within the if you read, this is in the category of E, which is the digital performance and lead generation within the marketing framework. So this is only and only booking that has been generated through the digital marketing platform.
Okay. Because on the headline, we don't see anything. It says lead generation and.
No, so that's seven. If you go back, if you look at the seven, go back to seven, six, and go to one, it is under the subhead E of digital performance and lead generation.
Okay. And generally, when we do.
One second, Vikash wants to intervene with that question in the context.
Himanshu, Vikash here. When we talk about digital performance and lead generation, which is the heading for the E, if you look at the seventh point under which this data appears, it talks about engagement through different online sources. Google, Meta, website, LinkedIn, social media, etc. Basically talking about this subset of overall bookings. That's how it has to be read.
Okay. And what would be a reference sale, let's say, what contribution would be from reference sales out of the INR 1,800 crores?
1,800 crores. I would say probably so Gurgaon doesn't have such a large referral generation pool. If you exclude Gurgaon and Ashiana Malhar in Pune, more than 50% of our bookings come from referral bookings. These two markets have a very large channel partner contribution. So if you exclude those two, probably near two-thirds, 60% or between 60% and 70% of our bookings in different projects come through referrals.
And one last bookkeeping question. This Ashiana Town, what is the case about? Was this a case or something which was going on for some period or some differences of opinion was going on for some period, and hence it came to this INR 50 crore compensation being asked for? Some clarity will be helpful.
Oh, so on this too? Yes, 226 customers have gone to the consumer forum, and it's also they're trying to make it a class action suit, and therefore I think we had to disclose because of that. There are various parameters that they have used to go to suit on it. We are challenging the matter and replying and disclosed on that. According to us, their prayers are not correct, and we are going to challenge them and fight that in courts. Overall, otherwise, in general, our sense is that overall customers in Ashiana Town are happy. We do periodic Net Promoter Score surveys, and it's been doing well overall in terms of customer satisfaction, so I'm a little surprised as well with that kind of satisfaction that this has happened, but their suit and their grounds to us are incorrect, and we will contest them in court.
And one last thing. This Ashiana Aaroham, okay, which we wanted to launch by FY25 end and then the first half of FY26. Now we are in the second half. What is the thing because of which the project has taken much more than what we anticipated in terms of launch leads? And what is the launch process now?
Because we got stuck in some approval issues in our interpretation of the building bylaws and other building code and fire codes. And our interpretation and the town planning interpretations were different, so we had to recalibrate our drawings a little bit. And also, there were some other things that happened which we had not read correctly in the drawings. We realized that there were some benefits available to us because of that, which overall saleable area increased a little bit, and the way we were able to design the project improved. So in that process, we lost a little bit of time. Now we have all approvals in place, excluding RERA. We have applied for RERA. We're expecting RERA by end of this month, and hopefully should launch in the beginning of next month, we should launch the project.
In last year's annual report, we have stated that around INR 2,500 crores.
Himanshu, sorry. I love and appreciate the kind of depth you have. Can you get back in line? We will take all the questions that you have. We will not do the call without the questions that you have. But I would like to give the opportunity to some of the people in line, and then we'll take your questions again. Is that okay with you?
Yeah, yeah. It is okay with me.
Thank you so much, Himanshu. We'll take the next question. Please do get back in line. I will take all the questions that you have.
Thank you. We have the next question from the line of Rohit from ithoughtPMS . Please go ahead.
Yeah, hello. Am I audible?
Yes, you're audible.
Thank you.
Okay.
Yeah, good afternoon. I'm Himanshu. So first question was on this. So we had this point that you had shared in the last few calls that we are going to FY 2025 to 2030, INR 11,000 crores of cumulative sales and cumulative profits of about INR 2,000 crores. So I think we did INR 529 crores last year, and I think we've done about INR 480 crores this first half. And I think you mentioned that FY 2026 is around INR 1,270 crores and we've given certain numbers. So for the next subsequent years, FY 2027, FY 2028. So just want to understand, so if I just total all of them, that's like about INR 6,000 odd crores. So there is still another INR 5,000 odd crores that is remaining for us to sort of book, which will get booked probably in FY 2029 or 2030.
So, can you just help us understand how do we what is the bridge there in terms of how do we plan to get there? I mean, in terms of what are you thinking in terms of in the plan you have?
Okay, so we have about 6,000 sort of in the ongoing projects, the total value is about INR 6,300 crores between 26-29 if you look at the ongoing project list. And we had about INR 500 crores last year, so about INR 6,800 crores, 68-69 hundred crores gets covered there. The rest, about INR 4,000 odd crores that we're looking for 30, a large part of that will come from Ashiana Aaroham. Ashiana Aaroham, across three phases, should have a sale value of between INR 1,500-1,800 crores depending on how it plays out. Ashiana Amarah has a sale value of about INR 300 odd crores, and Ashiana Oma would have a sale value of around INR 700 odd crores. And so put together, this is about 2,500. I would expect about two-thirds of this to get delivered by FY30. That's what we launched.
We would like to get them in FY30 in place. So Aaroham and Amarah are getting launched in the next few weeks. Amarah gets first, and then Aaroham and Oma in the first week or first quarter of the next year. And then outside of that, we have in our future phases of existing projects, we have multiple projects there, and let me just walk through that. So if you look at we have about 51.78 lakh sq ft, of which Amarah is about 18 odd lakh sq ft. So let's say we are left with about 33, 34 lakh sq ft. To me, that should generate another 2,500 odd crores. We're averaging at about INR 7,500 a sq ft, let's say INR 2,500 crores. So we have 7 plus 2 plus 2, 2 and a half, this about comes into INR 4,000 crores. It comes in around INR 11,000 crores.
Is that a good way to get there? Rohit, anything else you would like specifically there?
So that definitely helps. But just sort of stepping back, so I think in the first question by the previous participant, you mentioned that it's more the launch pipeline, not necessarily sales run rate, right? So you also mentioned it was.
Is the top-line revenue recognition that we expect by FY30 within the company? That's what I clarified. He was looking at his launch pipeline. It's more the top-line that we think we will recognize and do our books by FY30, by delivering the project and clocking this year.
So there's no change in that, right?
There is no change in that. No, no. Absolutely.
From that perspective, Varun, in terms of it takes three to four years for us to launch and construct and then deliver, right? FY26 and 27, we are halfway through. In terms of launches this year, you mentioned Amarah and Aaroham would be launched in this year, right? And some of the other phases that you have or some of the other ongoing projects, will we not be on a tight deadline to sort of construct and then deliver? Because if we take even Amarah and Aaroham, we are just about 12-15 quarters we'll have to deliver. And then some of the others, we've not yet launched or we would.
FY30 will give us four years to deliver, no? From now. And I took only, let's say, two-thirds of the project, right? So we are not looking to deliver the whole project to the phase one. Our delivery cycles are about three years in a particular phase, maybe three and a half years in a particular phase. So we have about three years and one quarter both in Oma and both in Amarah and Aaroham. I think we should be able to clock in all of Amarah and two-thirds of Aaroham within that time.
Okay, okay. And so specifically then on the profitability, so starting this year, do you see profitability to improve significantly on the reported side? Because I think now we'll probably start booking in the higher margin projects and I think a couple of the lower margin ones. One, I think you finished or about to get over, and one will come next year. I think Malhar will come next year is what you had mentioned. So what would you think about profitability from this year onwards?
So net profit margins should get into low double digits from this year is my expectation. We should hit low double digit profit margins this year. And then keeps improving as the mix of the projects change more and more toward higher margins. I would say FY currently in FY28 seems like where margins should substantially improve. But even let's say if you look at the last three years, profit margins have been 6.5%, 8.6%, and 3.27%. At the net profit. And I'm expecting that we should be in double digits profit margins this year and net profit margins. So things are getting better and improving, which was visible in this quarter when Ashiana Advik got delivered, which has a very high gross profit margins. Profit margins have significantly improved. And this is happening. So I think overall things should improve.
Can I ask one more question?
Yes, please. Last one, Rohit, and then you can get back in line. I'll take one and then that's from you.
Sure. I think two or three quarters back or maybe three, four quarters back, probably, we had bought or we purchased, got into an agreement for a land purchase in Bangalore and also in Mumbai, Pune, stretch, I think, if I'm not wrong. So any update on that?
Yeah, yeah. Neither. The conditions precedent have not been satisfied in either of the three. We had Jaipur, Punawale, and Bangalore. We had said we're still looking for the landlords to complete certain conditions that they're supposed to do for the transaction to fully go through.
So those are all.
They're all government-approval linked. They're all government-approval linked CPs, so they can take sometimes much longer than one would expect. Unfortunately, that is part of the business.
They're not off the discussion, right?
No, they are not off, but they are not on either, so they're still in the middle somewhere.
I know timeline is not possible, but generally, do you expect them to get done in maybe next two, three quarters, or it's completely black box right now?
I would say either they will get done in the next two, three quarters, or if they don't come, we come off the transaction that they don't get done within the next two, three quarters. I don't think we'll drag further than that. So one way or the other, I think in the next two, three quarters.
Sure. I have more questions.
And we are actively looking for more projects simultaneously, I think. Particularly in the senior living space, I think the market should hear more from us. In the general housing space, we are a little concerned about the land prices and most markets we are in. We're looking, but senior living, we are very aggressive. So you should hear more from us in the future, in the near future.
Sure, sure. I have more questions, so I'll come back, right, to ask you.
Yes, please do come back. We have one more person in line. Please go ahead and come in.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question, you may please press star and one. Our next question comes from the line of Rahul Jain, an individual investor. Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Am I audible?
Yes.
Okay. So my first question is basically, we mentioned that we got some extraordinary income this quarter from some dispute which was pending. So I wanted to know, this INR 27 crores or INR 28 crores of profit that we made, how much was the contribution from this other income?
The dispute that in Kolkata that got resolved, I think overall contribution of about three.
So about four.
About approximately four odd crores at the PBT level would be from that number, and about three odd crores at the after-tax level would be from that dispute.
Okay, got it. And so if I see the presentation, so we have about 700-odd crores to be booked in the next two quarters. So I wanted to understand, will the profit margins of this sale, which will happen, be of the line that we saw in the first quarter, or will it be what we saw in the second quarter?
I said your full year profit should be in the low single digits, let's say 10-odd %, and 10-odd-10, maybe 11 kind of net profit margins is what I think we will look at for this financial year.
Okay, got it. And yeah. Yeah, so next question is basically, are we seeing any pricing pressures anywhere, or are we able to increase prices, or is it stable?
So we are increasing prices in most places. We don't have pricing pressures anywhere, but the pace of price increase is slower than what it was before.
Okay. And land prices are also not increasing as much, or is there a significant?
Land prices continue to remain out of whack in some markets and very expensive in some markets. For senior living, wherever we are able to operate, land prices seem more reasonable given the product we are doing and pricing we are able to do. So our focus will remain on senior living projects in that way. Gurgaon, Jaipur, where there is a large focus on non-senior living developments, land prices do continue to be a little bit out of whack, according to me.
Last question, you probably mentioned something that margins should be expected to be far better in, and is that 28 or 27? What did you say?
I am not able to understand what you asked, Rahul. Sorry, can you repeat that a little bit louder, please?
Yes, yes. So I think I heard you answering one of the previous participants that profit margins should be substantially higher in the next years, but I think that were you mentioning about 27, FY27 or FY28?
27 should also be better. 28 is where I would say where we will see significant increases because there's a mix of projects will shift more and more towards higher margin projects. Basically, all the low margin projects will be completely out except for Malhar, and we will have mix of much higher projects. Even in Ashiana Amarah , the margins in phase three, four, and five is substantially higher than phase one and two because land was bought at the same price across the phases. But sales prices took a very, very serious jump phase three onwards, and that makes a big difference, so some of those things will kick in. FY28, the shift in margins should be significantly more.
Okay. And when you say substantially higher, do you mean mid-teens, 15, 16, or more than?
I would not like to give exactly, but definitely in the teens. Mid-low high teens, I don't want to get into. But definitely teens would be there. I would tend towards the mid-to-high teens. Let's say mid-to-high teens is where they would land at. In FY28, if you go as per plans, it's still about two years out, but as per plans, we should be in the mid-to-high teens.
Got it. Thank you.
Thank you, Rahul.
Thank you. The next question comes from the line of Himanshu from Steadford Investment Managers. Please go ahead.
Yeah, my question is on Gurgaon market. How is that market doing? And our Amarah phase four and phase five, especially phase five, the inventory to be sold is still pretty large amount which is pending. It's sold only. It means the velocity is now clearly very slow than what we saw in phase one, two, and three. So what is your view on that market and some thoughts there?
phase four and five were also. We priced phase four and five significantly higher than phase three. So we also had an intent in earlier phases to sell out a little faster so we get the cash flows to build out, and phase four, five, the intent has also been to now maximize profits. And we continue to sell quarter on quarter. I think the first six months of the year has gone decently well. That said, whatever I understand from the market, two things have happened in the market. One, the number of CPs in the market have significantly increased. So the business between the channel partners has become a little bit more fragmented. So that also plays a role in a very, very high CP-driven market. Second, I think what is happening in the Gurgaon market is it is now not a secular sales market for every developer.
I think it is getting split a little bit between the development quality, the product quality, the positioning, the sales engine, the marketing engine, the brand positioning in the market, and there is, in my opinion, the market is splitting a little bit. And within that, our view is that Ashiana is somewhere in the middle. We do not enjoy pole position in the market where we have a very strong dominance in terms like what we probably enjoy in Jamshedpur, Jaipur, Bhiwadi, or in senior living space, but as Ashiana, we are also not in the lower category of developers who are now struggling to sell in a non-secular market. I think for the size of inventory that we have, we are doing well, and whatever sense we are getting from the market right now, things in Aaroham look very positive. We'll get to know how that goes.
But initial sense that we get as we prepare for launch, the initial sense is that it should be a good launch or whatever my sales team tells me in terms of how things are going. So that's the current things which we are taking a sense from. Definitely, the market is not secular anymore, that everybody is selling.
[Inaudible]Aaroham will have phases?
Say that again.
No, Aaroham will have now three phases or four phases?
No, three phases. It was always planned with three phases. We have six buildings in Aaroham in total, two buildings per phase.
Okay. And the land acquisition, what we did in Chennai, INR 1,200 crore, what we have stated the sales value.
Yeah.
How long will it take? And what is the thought process? Because we already had a project. So the success in that market has been so strong that we think we can complete it in four, five years, or do you think this will take a longer period of time? But looking at the.
This will take a little longer period. Yeah. So approvals in Chennai itself take a long period of time. We are shooting for a little faster this time than what we have done before. But our experience in Chennai is that they do take longer than we are targeting for end of next financial year launch. But the approval process in Chennai is a little longer than elsewhere for us in that market. That said, after launch, I would say it's a six- to seven-year project, 15 lakh sq ft, seven-year project. But the response to senior living in Chennai has been the strongest. It is the largest senior living market for us. It is the largest senior living market in the country. And we enjoy being the leader in that segment there. And we see a very bright future.
We want to experiment with multiple senior living products at multiple different price points. So we did that with Vatsalya and Swarang, different locations, different price points in terms of per square foot pricing, different kind of specs, different kind of height module, different scale of project. And it has worked for us. And we want to introduce a third product with some villas, some different kind of two to four apartments. So the plans are not ready yet exactly what we'll do, but we believe that market can absorb multi-product senior living at multiple price points, given the resilience there in the market in terms of senior living.
Okay. Okay. But it will take two years to get on ground or launch.
Yeah, generally, it takes two years. We are targeting for the last quarter of the next financial year to be a little quicker than we would be otherwise.
Okay. Yeah. Thank you so much.
Thank you, Himanshu.
Thank you. We have our next question from the line of Rohit from ithoughtPMS . Please go ahead.
Yeah, hi. Thanks again for the chance. So in terms of the pre-sales for FY26, what is the outlook?
FY26 pre-sales, the outlook is about INR 2,000 crores is what we are targeting. We want to cross that threshold this year. And yeah, that's the outlook for it. A lot of it depends on how the two project launches go.
That is Amarah and Aaroham, right?
Yes.
Okay. And you said Aaroham will also get launched in Q3 or maybe Q4?
No. So Amara and Aaroham, both booking should happen in Q4. We should start doing expression of interest in Q3 and convert the real launch, like the booking launch will be in Q4 for both of them.
Understood. How is the market in terms of velocity? We keep hearing mixed things, so how is the market? You mentioned Aaroham looks very positive, so.
The sense I'm getting is very positive. The market in Gurgaon is not as secular as it was, if that's the way to put it. In Gurgaon, 18 months ago, any developer with any product was selling. Okay? I think the differentiation in the market for better product, better branded developers is happening. Some developers are doing better. Some developers are having a little bit of a difficult time. As I said, we are somewhere in the middle. We are not market leaders in Gurgaon, but we are not laggards either. We do enjoy a good reputation. And given the market and given the amount of stock and exposure we have to Gurgaon, we are very comfortable with that. We expect to see a good launch.
I think the phase four launch that we have was not as well received. Is that something? I mean, the sentiment through the year has improved?
Phase five, the phase five, you mean phase five, the launch is not as good as we expected.
Yeah, sorry.
But however, the last two quarters, we have sold well in Amarah. We do release quarterly sales data. So Amarah, we sold in Q1, 76,000 sq ft. Q2, 47,000 sq ft. Any number above, let's say 30,000 sq ft of quarter, I think we are good in Amarah. We have between phase four and five, we have about 3 lakh sq ft to sell and more than 10 quarters to go. So 30,000 sq ft will take us home anyways. Like Amarah, phase five, now delivery is in FY 2029. So we'll have 12, 13 quarters to go overall. So 30,000 sq ft will take us home the pace we are. And we did 75,000 and 47,000 the last two quarters.
Got it. Got it. Understood. So and the other question, Varun, was that if we see from this year onwards, the delivery, I mean, I think from a delivery standpoint, Q4 will be very heavy. And similarly, if I take the entire next two years, it will be very heavy. So from an organization point of view, we've not handled these kind of delivery numbers. So I mean, any things that we need to sort of work towards or any?
Organizationally, 24 sq ft in a year, which is what we will deliver this year as per this plan. We have done before. We can handle that delivery. The delivery perspective, the kind of what we call DORP in the organization, delivering operationally ready buildings. Our organizational capacity to deliver well, deliver in finesse and quality and services, organizational capacity is good. That said, will we have some slip-ups in some projects or in some units at some point of time? We will, but that's part of the business, and we are delivering overall. We measure customer satisfaction at delivery, and that's been very good till now, and we seem to be on track for future.
All right. And in terms of.
If I request one last question again, Rohit, the people in the line, I'll let them come in. One last question for you, and then I'll let them come in, please.
Yeah. I think next two, three years, the cash accretion will be very solid. And anyway, we are pretty light on the balance sheet in terms of debt, etc. So what is the thought process? Because we've been talking about the land prices being very high. So how are we thinking about the profits that, I mean, the cash that we have and our capital allocation on that?
Honestly, a little confused looking and trying to cut through the clutter that there is in the market. I think there is one clarity that we definitely have, which is that senior living is where a large amount of capital will go, disproportionately large amount of capital will go. We see that as the real, real, real big future for the company. We are market leaders there. We are seeing a changing demographic profile. We are seeing a changing income profile, a changing demand scenario, and a competitive advantage in a product which is less commoditized and hard to deliver in terms of the after-construction services and how to sell and manage that. So one part where we have definite clarity is that a large substantial chunk will get delivered towards senior living, and in senior living, we are finding viable land patterns.
We have signed up a bunch with CPs. They may not go through. We'll sign up a bunch more. They go through great. The bunch more we do, they go through great. But we have enough pipe, and they're comfortable to drive senior living homes. On the other residential markets, we are watchful, and we are looking to find pockets of value where we can deploy capital, where we can generate decent returns, where the land markets are not as off. But there is clarity as to how we navigate this market.
Sure. All the very best, Varun. Thank you.
Thank you, Rohit. Just on that context, before we get to the next question, I just also wanted to add one thing. Given, as I said, our big focus will be senior living in the near future, incremental capital getting deployed. We thought we could do an analyst meet at one of our senior living projects. We plan to do one at Talegaon, Ashiana Amod within the next, let's say, 30-60 days, and in that next 30-60 days, we are looking, we would urge people to come see what senior living actually is and how differentiated it is as a product and its ability to create significant value for our customers and residents in the way we do business there and operate. The exact date and time will be circulated shortly, and I would request everyone to come, please. Thank you.
Rohit, we'll get to the next question. Please go ahead.
Thank you.
If you can. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you.
Ladies and gentlemen, to ask a question, you may press star and one. We have a next question from the line of Nikhil Upadhyay from SIMPL. Please go ahead.
Hello. Yeah, good evening. I hope I'm audible.
Yeah, you are audible. Hi, Nikhil. Thank you for waiting for so long with your question. Appreciate it, please.
Thanks. Varun, one question. You made a statement during the call that the land prices in group housing have become unreasonable. But when you go for the senior living kind of projects, the land prices which you are getting are more reasonable. Why this dichotomy between these two? If you can just help me understand, or my understanding of your context was wrong. If you can just spend some time.
So one, we look at it as a reference of sale price. So in senior living, the same land price sometimes can make more sense because we can charge our pricing premium. So even though if they're expensive, a minimum threshold return we do get protected so we can deploy capital. That's one. And second, in senior living, we can also go to sort of locations which are less competitive. It's okay. We can do senior living in Talegaon and of a premium kind of an environment where general housing is not so viable because seniors won't need to be as close to workplaces, offices. So we can avoid micro markets that are heated up for land and look at alternatives where senior living would work and regular homes may not work.
And that creates that appeal in markets which are a little cheaper on the land front, and there's less demand for that land.
Okay. Thanks for the explanation. Now, secondly, on the margin profile point, which has been discussed in the call, I just wanted to understand. See, in this quarter, if we consider the handovers which we have done of Anmol, Shubham, Advik, and Tarang, the average realization comes around for these three projects comes to around INR 4,800-INR 5,000 per sq ft. I'm using the total average, not the arithmetic or geometric average. Now, as we go into the next few quarters, the pipeline of projects which we are delivering, the realization is higher than what we have done in Q1 and Q2. And even projects like Malhar, phase one, where the realization is INR 5,500, as we move into next year, the realization moves to INR 6,000.
But when you say that a significant margin profile improvement will come to double digit in 2028, but if you look at the pricing or the realization, there is an improvement which we are seeing year on year. So what is the challenge in terms of that improvement happening over the next few quarters? Because the realization are actually improving of the projects which we are delivering every quarter.
So it's also a little bit of a cost structure issue. It's not just realization. Like Ashiana Anmol, the sale price is more than Ashiana Tarang, but Ashiana Tarang has a better margin profile overall just because our land costs are cheaper. So Ashiana Malhar, even though we are selling at INR 6,000 and Ashiana Advik, we will sell at INR 6,000. Phase two is around INR 6,000 or maybe INR 5,500 rupees a sq ft, if I'm correct. In Ashiana Advik is what we'll seek to get. Ashiana Advik will have a better margin profile than Ashiana Malhar because Ashiana Advik's land is Ashiana Malhar, we are giving about 36% in revenue share, 35% revenue share. Land cost in Ashiana Advik would be 5% probably historical land value. That delta is very significant. So there is a combination of prices hardening and also deal terms which kick in.
So particularly two places where we have been hurt. First, projects in micro markets, in new markets like Malhar and Anmol, where we had to give very high revenue share to enter a new market, which we were not, or deal terms in 2014, 2013 that we had done, which still have some delivery or 2015 delivery. Again, Ashiana Shubham, first project to enter Chennai. Deal terms have made margins lower. Second projects like Amarah, Amod, Vatsalya, better margin profile.
So as the deal terms, as we move into our project deliveries improve in 2027, 2028, that should, along with the higher realization, should start reflecting in the overall EBITDA margins or gross margins.
Yes. Gross margins, EBITDA margins, things should improve. Now, this year, as I said, is going to be better than the last year. 2027 should be better than 2026. 2028 will definitely be better than 2027 and 2026. Significant difference there, I would say.
Okay. And secondly, one question. See, if we look at the first half, value of area booked is around INR 730-740 odd crores. And if we look at the presentation, there has not been many large launches which have happened in the first half.
Yeah. Yeah.
So do you see that based on the existing pipeline of inventory of projects which we have, we can sustain a 500-600 crores of half-yearly kind of a sale? Is that momentum which you see, even without any large project being launched, can be sustained?
Yes. I think the best part of this quarter, I think if you look at the macro quarter pre-sales number, it seems low. But the great part about this quarter sales number was that we had gotten to this INR 300 crores in this quarter without any significant launches. Q1 still had Aravalli getting launched as a new project, even though it was small, and some phase launches also happening which kicked in. I think overall, the best part would be if we can do sustained sales of INR 300-400 crores every quarter, INR 600-700 crores every half year as what you're talking about would be great. And right now, that seems very, very much on track and seems to be good in that.
And for this 600-700 crores kind of.
Nikhil, can I also now request the last question from your end? We can take another question after this. Please go ahead, Nikhil. Sorry.
Sure. So the only point what I was trying to understand is that this INR 600-700 crores of INR 5,600 crores of half-yearly sales which we are reporting based on our inventory, would you say the how would you contextualize it in the environment which we are operating? It's not a very boom environment in terms of real estate, but where do you see the environment in terms of customers walk-in or customers' ability to close the deals or affordability index which you used to talk about in 2020?
Affordability index across the board remains good.
Okay. So you won't say it's a bad affordability for the customers?
Not at all.
Okay. Okay. Fine. Thanks a lot. I'll come back.
Thank you.
Thank you. The next question is from the line of Piyush Goyal from India Capital. Please go ahead.
Yeah. Hi. I'm now audible.
Yeah. Hi, Piyush.
Yeah. Hi. Hi, Varun. Hi, Vikash. Yeah. My question is on Ashiana Aaroham and that you're about to launch. So is that also going to be a kids-centric project? And how is the positioning versus Amarah? I have a question to say.
Piyush, sorry to interrupt. The line seems to be breaking up in between. May I request you to please check the network and ask your question once again?
Yeah. Sorry. Is this better?
Yes.
This seems better.
Yeah. Sorry. I was using headset. Yeah. So I was saying that how is the positioning for the new launch in Gurgaon going to be different to Amarah? And secondly, you said that Amarah is, I mean, still doing some quarterly sales, but it's not as solid as some of the earlier launches. But at the same time, you're saying you're seeing very good early signs for Aaroham launch. So how can you contextualize that disconnect between those two comments?
Okay, so two things. One launch creates a different sort of a buzz. There is sustained sales and launches. It has a different vibe. Aaroham is also a new generation project as compared to Amarah, so Amarah is kids-centric homes. Aaroham is what we're calling curated kids-centric residences. Overall, more plush, better low density, so you get the same amenities, nearly the same amenities of Amarah with half the number of units. You get, to me, better building design, better flat design, better parking, better kids-centric amenities. Overall, the project is just superior in that way, I think, and I think that's what's leading to, I think, a better buzz over there in that context, and Amarah, the advantage is you move in earlier, so it will attract a different set of customers where Amarah now, phase one, is sort of getting prepared for delivery.
So it will take shape and everything. Aaroham will be a better proposition project, but a little later on delivery because of its start. But launch also creates a different buzz. A lot of CPs just like to act on launches there. That's the other thing in Gurgaon. A lot of channel partners don't like to sell during sustained. So it becomes a different piece altogether. They prefer to work on launches.
Understood. The other question is, are you seeing now that you've done this is going to be a third kid-centric project in Gurgaon, are you able to develop that brand again, especially for kid-centric homes like you have for senior living? Do you think you can double down on that going forward, increasingly not just in Gurgaon, but other cities, and create a strong brand for yourself in that kid-centric segment? And is that more competitive? Do you see more people doing kid-centric as a theme versus more competition in senior living? Because in senior living, I think there's no comparable competition. But do you think that's true for kid-centric as well?
The differentiation from general residential group housing and senior living is far more stark. Kid-centric homes are not as stark and differentiated from general residential premium homes as much as senior living is in the way we have done. The kind of brand resonance and specialization that we have achieved in senior living, we have not achieved in kid-centric homes as of now. That said, I see differentiation happening in Ashiana Anmol. We probably got no premium in our direct sales to customers for doing kid-centric homes. But I see some anecdotal evidence that rentals, there are premium for kid-centric homes. In Ashiana Amarah , the differentiation became more stark, and it became more and more kid-centric in its nature. The design was far more sophisticated, far more thought through, and that has created a lot of value. I see that differentiation getting starker in Ashiana Aaroham.
And we are on the right path. Will I double down now on kids-centric homes? No. Do I see potential to double down on kids-centric homes in the next three, four years as in when we deliver? Right now, we want to double down on senior living because there that differentiation is clearly, clearly created. And while we double down on senior living, I think we will work hard to create that similar differentiation on kids-centric homes, get it to that level. And once we have gotten it to that level where we have, we'll double down there as well. So I think that's how we are working at it for now.
Understood. That's very clear. Just one last question. Is that in Gurgaon, as you said, and as per our observation looking at other data also, that last 12-18 months, prices seem to have flatlined in terms of inflation and realization, and demand is also kind of okay, okay now? Has that started to translate in land transaction prices as well? And are you seeing any traction there? Because you said prices are still not exciting in land.
No. Sorry, Piyush. Land prices have not started reflecting the non-secular sales market that is happening in Gurgaon. That has not gotten absorbed yet. And I don't think it will translate into land prices cooling off for another 12 months at least. Land prices are still pricing a very large price increase delta in sales prices of apartments in Gurgaon, I think. And so it'll take some time to connect.
Understood. Thank you.
Thank you.
Thank you.
We'll take one last question from Rohit, please.
Certainly, sir. Yes. Our next question is from Rohit from ithoughtPMS . Rohit, please go ahead.
Hi. Thanks for the chance again. So just two questions. One was, have you mentioned what is the price point at which you are launching Aaroham phase I? And also Amarah.
Ashiana Aaroham is in the 3-5 crore range, I think. But exact pricing is not yet concluded. I think that will get concluded towards the end, closer to a launch. We take that final pricing decision at the end of the launch when we launch for this year.
Amarah also be similar?
Huh?
Amarah also would be similar?
Yes. Amara's and Aaroham's pricing is similar. Aaroham will be a little bit higher than Amara on a ticket size basis.
Okay. No, no. I was asking about the other one. Sorry. I'm forgetting the name. You said the smaller one for smaller projects.
Ashiana Amarah . Again, there is fine-tuning of the pricing that is going there. I think there also that exact fine-tuning has not been concluded. But I think it's in the I think about INR 7,500-INR 8,000 per sq ft after discounts is probably where it might be, or maybe INR 7,000-INR 8,000 per sq ft. I don't know exact fine-tuned numbers there. I'm not sure exactly, so I can't tell you. But I know the floor is at I think the quoted price is around INR 8,000 per sq ft, and then there are discounts after that. And I don't know exactly where we're doing this.
Also, just one other ballpark number. The last question was, I think we had this question. I mean, we wanted to significantly improve our return on equity over the I mean, we told in our calls that we're focusing more on ROE rather than in terms of growth, etc. So just wanted to get a sense. So on a reported basis, do you see next couple of years, probably FY27, we'll be closer to that 20% ROE? Is that something that you would expect us to be on a reported basis?
The FY28, I think we should definitely cross the 20% ROE threshold if we go as per the plan that we have right now for deliveries.
2028. Okay. That is it from my side. Thank you very much, and all the very best for the upcoming launches.
Thank you, Rohit. Thank you.
Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, we will take that as a last question for today. I would now like to hand the conference over to the management for closing comments. Over to you, gentlemen.
Thank you once again for joining us on this earnings call and for your continued interest in Ashiana Housing Limited. With outlook to FY26, we are encouraged by the strength of our sales momentum, launch pipeline, and operational cash flows. We remain focused on timely handovers in FY26 and on building long-term value through disciplined execution and customer-centric development. If there are any questions we were unable to address today, please feel free to reach out to us directly. The investor presentation and relevant materials are available on our website, and we'll be happy to provide any further clarifications you may need. Wishing you all good health and productive year ahead. Thank you.
Thank you. On behalf of Ashiana Housing Limited, that concludes this conference. Thank you all for joining us. You may now disconnect your lines.