Beazer the latest builder to report loss

Atlanta-based homebuilder posts net loss of $1.12 a share, says it sees no evidence of a housing recovery.


NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Embattled homebuilder Beazer Homes became the latest company in the sector to report a loss, as it said it has yet to see meaningful evidence of a sustainable recovery in housing.

The Atlanta-based builder's net loss was $43.1 million, or $1.12 a share, far worse than the net income of $104.4 million, or $2.35, a year earlier.

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Analysts surveyed by First Call had been forecasting a loss of only 14 cents in the period, but it wasn't immediately clear how the forecasts compared to the stated net loss, which included charges for inventory impairments, impairments from joint ventures, and abandonment of land option contracts.

Many of those types are charges are not excluded when considering a builder's operating results.

The company said home closings in the quarter tumbled 36 percent to 2,743 homes, and revenue plunged 35 percent $826.3 million. But the revenue decline was not as bad as the First Call forecast of a revenue of $684 million.

The company also said that new orders declined only 3 percent from a year earlier to 4,085 homes, and that it was able to cut its inventory of unsold finished homes by 47 percent.

But the company's statement said it sees continued weakness in the market.

"Most housing markets across the country continue to experience lower levels of demand coupled with higher levels of inventory, resulting in increased competition and continued significant discounting," said a statement from CEO Ian McCarthy. "While we were pleased with the level of new orders we achieved this quarter, at this point in the traditional spring selling season we still have yet to see any meaningful evidence of a sustainable recovery in the housing market, and we expect current conditions will continue to put pressure on homebuilders' operating results."

The company has previously disclosed it is under federal investigation of its mortgage origination services, and is the subject of class-action suits brought by both shareholders and homeowners.

Its statement Thursday said it recently became aware of another class action suit brought by homeowners in South Carolina, and that its board's audit committee has initiated an internal review of its mortgage origination business and related matters.

The report comes the day after Pulte Homes (Charts, Fortune 500), the No. 4 U.S. homebuilder, posted a loss that was lower than Wall Street forecasts, and after a government report showed continued weakness in new home sales in March.

Tuesday a report from the National Association of Realtors showed the biggest drop in existing home sales in 18 years.

Losses in the homebuilding sector have not been limited to Beazer and Pulte.

Earlier this month, No. 2 homebuilder D.R. Horton (Charts, Fortune 500) reported a 37 percent drop in the number of new homes it sold in the latest quarter, citing continued weakness in prices and saying the typical start to the spring home buying season hasn't begun.

No. 3 Centex (Charts, Fortune 500) and New Jersey-based Hovnanian Enterprises (Charts, Fortune 500) have also reported losses in the most recent quarter, and while No. 5 builder KB Home (Charts, Fortune 500) returned to an operating profit in its most recent quarter after an earlier loss, its CEO warned earlier this month that he expects the housing slump to get worseTop of page

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Most stock quote data provided by BATS. Market indices are shown in real time, except for the DJIA, which is delayed by two minutes. All times are ET. Disclaimer. Morningstar: © 2018 Morningstar, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Factset: FactSet Research Systems Inc. 2018. All rights reserved. Chicago Mercantile Association: Certain market data is the property of Chicago Mercantile Exchange Inc. and its licensors. All rights reserved. Dow Jones: The Dow Jones branded indices are proprietary to and are calculated, distributed and marketed by DJI Opco, a subsidiary of S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC and have been licensed for use to S&P Opco, LLC and CNN. Standard & Poor's and S&P are registered trademarks of Standard & Poor's Financial Services LLC and Dow Jones is a registered trademark of Dow Jones Trademark Holdings LLC. All content of the Dow Jones branded indices © S&P Dow Jones Indices LLC 2018 and/or its affiliates.