Four Years Of Leading India's Commercial Real Estate Transformation
Dear Unitholders,
I am delighted to present Embassy JF REIT's FY2023 Annual Report to you. 2023 marks the
fourth anniversary of Embassy REIT's listing. If I look back, the business has
accomplished a great deal since those early days in 2019. We have grown our portfolio from
33 msf at inception to an industry-leading 45 msf today. We leased a total of 11.4 msf
across 257 deals and expanded our occupier base by a third to 230 corporates.
We delivered 3.4 msf of new office space and launched 7.9 msf new developments,
including the first grade A office redevelopment at scale. We acquired a world-class
business park in ETV totaling 9.1 msf and raised over Rs.36 bn equity through India's
first QIP by a REIT. We refinanced around Rs.143 bn debt reducing our interest cost by
around 204 bps and we were the first to access long-term debt from NBFCs and insurers in
the Indian REIT context. We also launched our industry leading ESG framework and net zero
2040 commitment. And finally, we enhanced our NOI by 76% to Rs.28 bn, delivered close to
one billion dollars in distributions and expanded our investor base by 20 times to over
80,000 today.
We did all of this while enduring an election cycle, a global pandemic that has
threatened the future of office worldwide, and the current geopolitical and macroeconomic
volatility that continues to roil economies and markets worldwide.
As a new India emerges, led by its rising relevance geopolitically, in global product
and service value chains serviced by global corporates, and the aspirations of an
expanding middle-class, I increasingly see high-quality workplaces playing critical roles
in hosting the talent to fuel this growth.
India's thriving commercial real estate sector continues to grow, driven by sustained
global tech investments. As seekers of international quality office spaces and given their
higher propensity to pay, global captives continue to invest in talent and workplace to
factor for increased offshoring. This is resulting in a continued positive shift in our
occupier mix, especially in our Bengaluru portfolio, with banks and financial services
captives leading this trend. Captives contributed around 70% of our FY2023 new and
pre-leasing and now account for over 55% of our annual rents. Corporates from sectors such
as retail, insurance and healthcare, all of which rely on technology and are increasingly
embracing digital footprints, are also setting up and scaling their India captive centres.
While these occupiers initially start in India with a smaller footprint, they have the
potential to expand rapidly.
Embassy REIT has a simple mantra: to deliver offices of the future to its tenants,
helping create an ecosystem that fosters innovation, collaboration and growth. As
demonstrated by the FY2023 results, the Company delivered yet another year of strong
business performance despite a challenging environment and has all the building blocks in
place for future growth.
In April, we announced the appointment of Aravind Maiya as Chief Executive Officer of
Embassy REIT. Aravind played a pivotal role in the growth of Embassy REIT since its
listing as the Chief Financial Officer and was instrumental in driving its success.
I am delighted to welcome Aravind back - under his leadership, we look forward to
taking Embassy REIT to greater heights. I would also like to thank Vikaash Khdloya for his
contribution to the success of Embassy REIT and are grateful for his stewardship over the
last few years, particularly during the two years of the pandemic.
As I close, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all our employees for their
continued commitment and focus on delivering a solid business performance in a challenging
environment. Finally,
I would like to extend my sincere thanks to all our valued unitholders, occupiers,
business partners and other stakeholders for their unwavering support.
Jitendra Virwani
Chairman