Bengaluru-based Prestige Estates Projects Ltd is sitting on about Rs 65,000 crore of revenue it has not yet booked, on top of a record Rs 30,024 crore in pre-sales it logged in fiscal 2025-26. “We have got about Rs 65,000 crore of unrecognised revenue in the book. It is not a small amount,” Chairman and Managing Director Irfan Razack told PTI in an interview on the company’s latest operational update.
The Rs 65,000 Crore Pile Sitting Off the Income Statement
Unrecognised revenue, in plain terms, is money the company has already collected from buyers for homes that have not yet been delivered. Prestige currently follows the completion method for recognising revenue, which means income stays off the P&L until each project is finished, and the Rs 65,000 crore figure Razack named is the running total of those pre-completion bookings across the portfolio, built up over the last three financial years of housing sales.
The gap between that backlog and the headline results is what makes the scale of Prestige’s order book look different from the income statement. For fiscal 2025-26, the company reported total income of Rs 13,195.5 crore, up from Rs 7,735.5 crore the year before. The Rs 65,000 crore backlog is several times the size of the annual revenue line Razack is now presiding over.
Prestige’s operational performance is reported in two separate streams, pre-sales, which is the value of homes sold in a given period, and recognised revenue, which is what actually hits the books under the completion method. The Rs 65,000 crore sits in the gap between the two, and Razack framed that gap as the headline story of the company’s latest operational update.
Under the completion method, a buyer who has paid for a Prestige apartment is recorded as an advance from the customer on the company’s balance sheet, not as booked revenue. The cash has come in, the project has been sold, but the P&L does not register the sale until construction finishes and possession is handed over. The Rs 65,000 crore is the cumulative value of those advance positions across Prestige’s portfolio.
“We have got about Rs 65,000 crore of unrecognised revenue in the book. It is not a small amount.”
The words are from Irfan Razack, Chairman and Managing Director of Prestige Estates Projects Ltd, speaking to PTI.
Why the Method Matters Now
The consequential question is not how big the backlog is, but when it gets counted. Razack told PTI the company is in discussion with its auditors to shift from the completion method to the percentage of completion method.
Under the completion method, the Rs 65,000 crore backlog moves onto the income statement only when each project is finished. Real estate developers that follow this approach recognise revenue in step with handover dates. That timing can produce lumpy reported numbers when multiple large projects cross the finish line in the same quarter.
The alternative Razack named is the percentage of completion method, and he did not put a timeline on the potential change in the PTI interview.
Pre-sales of Rs 30,024 crore in fiscal 2025-26 are an operational metric, not a line on the income statement. Under completion accounting, that gap can sit in the order book for some time before the corresponding revenue crosses onto the P&L. The audit conversation is, in effect, about whether to close that gap earlier. Razack did not say in the PTI interview what pace of recognition the company is aiming at.
Razack’s framing of the Rs 65,000 crore as “not a small amount” underlines the stakes of the discussion. For a developer sitting on a backlog of that size, the choice of revenue recognition method has a direct effect on how the next several years of financial results will read to investors. Until the auditor discussion resolves, the reported numbers will continue to reflect the completion method.
The completion method ties Prestige’s reported revenue to its handover schedule rather than its construction pace, which can produce quarter-to-quarter swings in the income statement.
The Sales Run That Built the Backlog
The pile did not appear overnight. Prestige Estates achieved a record sales bookings of Rs 30,024 crore during the 2025-26 fiscal, up 76 per cent from the preceding year, per the company’s pre-sales record for fiscal 2026. The 76 per cent jump is the single largest year of pre-sales growth the developer has logged in the period Razack was discussing with PTI.
The build-out feeding those bookings is what produces the Rs 65,000 crore figure. Last fiscal, Prestige launched 32 million sq ft of area with sales bookings potential of Rs 27,350 crore, per PTI. Prestige’s launches are the inflow side of the unrecognised revenue pile, since each project adds to the tally as buyers commit during the construction phase. The 32 million sq ft launched last fiscal, with Rs 27,350 crore in sales bookings potential, is the latest single-year addition to that running total.
Beyond the launches, the group has 128 projects across 195 million sq ft in its development pipeline, on top of 313 projects spanning 206 million sq ft already delivered across housing, commercial and hospitality. Bengaluru-headquartered Prestige Estates Projects Ltd operates across all major Indian cities, with housing, office complexes, shopping malls and hospitality assets in the portfolio.
By the numbers, fiscal 2025-26:
- Pre-sales growth: up 76% from fiscal 2024-25
- Total income: Rs 13,195.5 crore (up from Rs 7,735.5 crore)
- Net profit: Rs 1,195.5 crore (up from Rs 467.5 crore)
- Unrecognised revenue backlog: about Rs 65,000 crore
- Delivered portfolio: 313 projects across 206 million sq ft
What the Income Statement Already Shows
The Rs 13,195.5 crore in total income for fiscal 2025-26 is the part of the order book that did cross into recognised revenue during the year, once completions on existing projects were tallied. Net profit jumped over two times to Rs 1,195.5 crore from Rs 467.5 crore in 2024-25, reflecting the projects that crossed the handover line during the year. The two-times jump in profit alongside the 76 per cent rise in pre-sales shows the lag between a sale and the income it eventually produces.
Under the completion method, recognised revenue rises in step with each project’s completion date, which Razack told PTI is why the company is in discussion with auditors over which method to use going forward. The current setup means reported numbers bunch around handover milestones, and Razack did not put a timeline on a potential switch in the interview. The 76 per cent pre-sales growth and the two-times jump in net profit for the same fiscal year illustrate the lag between operational performance and reported income at Prestige, with operational disclosures showing the pre-sales gain while the income statement reflects only the projects that crossed handover during the period. Razack’s Rs 65,000 crore figure quantifies how much of that gap is still to be closed.
The FY27 Target and What Could Still Change
For fiscal 2027, Razack said Prestige is targeting Rs 35,000-36,000 crore of sales bookings or pre-sales. The launch pipeline for the current fiscal is around Rs 58,000 crore across major cities, with the actual number of projects reaching market dependent on government approvals.
Razack told PTI he was hopeful that sales bookings and new launches would be better than those in 2025-26, citing housing demand that continues to be good despite global economic uncertainties amid the West Asia conflict. His role at the company is detailed on the chairman’s board profile on the company site. Bengaluru-headquartered Prestige Estates Projects Ltd has been adding projects across India’s major cities throughout the cycle.
Two things have to land for the Rs 65,000 crore backlog to flow onto the income statement faster. The auditors and the company have to agree on a percentage of completion framework, a step Razack described as a discussion in progress, without giving a timeline in the PTI interview. And the projects themselves have to keep advancing toward handover, with Razack expecting sales bookings and new launches in fiscal 2027 to top the year just ended. Neither is contingent on the other, but both shape how quickly the unrecognised pile gets reflected in reported numbers.
Until either happens, the headline contrast will hold: Rs 30,024 crore in pre-sales on one side, Rs 13,195.5 crore in recognised total income on the other, and Rs 65,000 crore sitting in between. Investors watching the name alongside other real estate picks can also see the 2025 stock picks that named Prestige Estates.
Razack’s framing of housing demand as resilient even amid the West Asia conflict points to the demand backdrop behind the FY27 targets. The Rs 35,000-36,000 crore sales target for fiscal 2027 would, if met, extend the record run for another year and add further to the unrecognised revenue pile Razack flagged in his PTI interview.
