Brigade Enterprises edges up on office space brand expansion plan

Shares of Brigade Enterprises climbed a percent higher on February 28 after Brigade Group announced expansion plans for its managed office brand, BuzzWorks.

A range-bound movement in the benchmark indices implied subdued investor sentiment. With an overall weak sentiment, shares of the company were trading 0.1 percent higher at Rs 476.05 on the BSE at 9:39 am.

“We had conceptualised BuzzWorks as a value-added service for our office occupiers who were looking for flexible office space,” said Nirupa Shankar, Joint Managing Director, Brigade Enterprises.

She said the company will be more than doubling the number of seats this year to meet the increased demand. “Prior to Covid, the flexible office space market absorbed only 5-7 percent of the total office take up. However, in this post-Covid era, 25 percent of the office leased market is taken by managed office/flexible office players,” added Shankar.

In FY24, BuzzWorks will add seats in Bangalore, Kochi, Chennai and GIFT City, the company said.

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The Brigade Group currently has 2400 seats with around 99.5 percent occupancy in various BuzzWorks locations across the country.

The real estate player has been consistently delivering net operating cash flows in excess of Rs 250 crore since Q1 of FY23, helping it deleverage its balance sheet. In Q3FY23, it reported a net Operating Cash Flow of Rs 267 crore, up 2 percent YoY, but down 6 percent QoQ. Even as collections grew 21 percent YoY to Rs 1,328 crore, construction costs rose 48 percent YoY to Rs 617 crore, restricting growth in net Operating Cash Flow.

Steady cash flows over the first nine months of FY23 have helped it pare down its net debt by Rs 799 crore YoY to Rs 1,992 crore.

Consolidated sales came in at Rs 820.31 crore in December 2022, down 10.93 percent YoY while net profit fell 27 percent YoY to Rs 56.90 crore.

Nuvama Wealth and Investment, which has a ‘buy’ rating on the stock, said, “BRGD (Brigade Enterprises) continues to perform in all segments with a healthy cash flow and intends to pare down its debt. While rising interest rates and inflation can create some headwinds, its robust launch pipeline and improvement in hospitality and leasing segments will ensure a sustainable growth trajectory.”