The brokerage sees a “moderating development outlook” for Godrej Properties and “weaker-than-expected development” at Phoenix Mills, whereas highlighting that each firms are buying and selling at stretched valuations relative to sector benchmarks.
Godrej Properties: Pre-sales cooling, quantity technique below pressure
Nomura’s initiation on Godrej Properties (GPL) comes with a goal value of Rs 1,900, implying a 17.7% draw back from its July 8 shut of Rs 2,310. “Provoke at Scale back on moderating development outlook,” the brokerage mentioned, citing a deceleration in pre-sales momentum and restricted visibility on future venture pipeline.
“Count on pre-sales momentum to be weaker than expectations; valuation appears stretched,” Nomura mentioned, estimating FY26 presales at Rs 310 billion, roughly 5% beneath the corporate’s personal steering of Rs 325 billion. Regardless of delivering a 35% CAGR in pre-sales between FY19 and FY25, the brokerage expects development to taper off on a excessive base.
“We imagine Godrej Properties is unlikely to exceed the FY26 new launch steering of +INR400bn by a large margin given new BD over the previous two years has not been that thrilling,” Nomura famous. It additionally expects gross sales from new launches to average to about 55% of latest launch worth, down from over 60% in FY24 and FY25.The brokerage flagged the corporate’s reliance on a volume-led growth technique as a structural vulnerability. “Between FY10 and FY25, the corporate’s shares in circulation rose from 150mn to 301mn, implying an fairness dilution of +100%,” it mentioned, warning that persistent free money circulate deficits of over Rs 10 billion yearly increase the chance of additional dilution.Valuation premiums, too, got here below scrutiny. GPL is at present buying and selling at a 135% premium to NAV, considerably above friends resembling Macrotech and Status. Nomura values the inventory at a extra conservative 95% premium to NAV below a sum-of-the-parts (SOTP) methodology, which incorporates residential operations, the Timber Lodge asset, and the event administration contract for the Vikhroli land parcel.
The brokerage pointed to “weaker-than-expected efficiency of some key tasks” as a draw back catalyst. Potential upside dangers embrace “stronger-than-expected gross sales from new launches” and “stronger-than-expected new launches/new BD.”
Phoenix Mills: Mature mall fatigue, margin compression forward
For Phoenix Mills, Nomura set a goal value of Rs 1,400, implying an 11.1% draw back from Tuesday’s shut of Rs 1,575. “Provoke at Scale back on weaker-than-expected development,” the brokerage mentioned, projecting a notable slowdown in retail consumption development and stress on margins.
Nomura expects retail consumption to develop at a 9% CAGR over FY25–27, down sharply from the 40% CAGR seen over FY22–25. That is primarily because of softening demand at mature malls, together with Phoenix Palladium and the Market Metropolis and United mall chains, which collectively account for 65% of whole consumption.
“We count on an total retail consumption CAGR of ~9% over FY25–FY27F,” Nomura mentioned, noting that contribution from newer malls, together with these in Surat and Kolkata, will possible materialise solely after FY29.
Margins are additionally anticipated to come back below pressure. “Retail EBITDA margin declined from 75% in FY23 to 71% in FY25,” Nomura famous, with tenant churn and a rising share of Tier-2 metropolis malls, resembling these in Indore and Ahmedabad, weighing on profitability. These belongings reported EBITDA margins of 55–60% in FY25, versus 70–84% for Tier-1 areas.
At 24x FY26 EV/EBITDA, Nomura views Phoenix Mills’ valuation as wealthy. Its EBITDA forecasts for FY26 and FY27 are 9% and 12% beneath Bloomberg consensus, respectively. The brokerage expects consolidated EBITDA to develop at a 14% CAGR by means of FY30, a big slowdown from the 43% CAGR recorded between FY22 and FY25.
Nomura values Phoenix Mills’ retail phase at Rs 442 billion, business at Rs 42 billion, and lodge enterprise at Rs 42 billion, with the residential phase valued at Rs 8 billion on a NAV foundation.
The brokerage cited “1QFY26F EBITDA lacking consensus by 7%” as a possible draw back catalyst, whereas the one recognized upside danger is “stronger-than-expected consumption in mature malls.”
Valuation realism over development optimism
Nomura’s bearish initiation on each shares factors to a broader name for realism in assessing India’s actual property sector. Whereas each builders have demonstrated robust execution and model power, the brokerage believes investor expectations have run forward of fundamentals.
With development moderating off a excessive base and capital effectivity coming below stress, Nomura’s message is evident: valuation premiums have to replicate floor realities, not previous momentum.
Additionally learn | How Godrej Properties, DLF and different actual property majors offered houses value Rs 1.62 lakh crore in FY25
(Disclaimer: Suggestions, solutions, views and opinions given by the specialists are their very own. These don’t signify the views of the Financial Instances)