Toll Brothers Inc. said it lost $83.2 million, or 52 cents a share, in its
fiscal second quarter as the luxury home builder continues to reduce the value
of land and unsold homes on its books to reflect current prices.
The results are slightly better than the $93.7 million, or 59 cents a share,
Toll lost in the second quarter last year, as the company took fewer
write-downs.
Toll took $119.6 million in write-downs in the quarter ended April 30, compared
with $288.1 million a year earlier.
Analysts were expecting a loss of 50 cents a share.
Toll Brothers reported last month that revenue for the quarter fell 51 percent
to $398.3 million from $818 million.
The builder said Wednesday there are signs that buyers are re-entering the new
home market. Since late March, Toll has seen an increase in homebuyer deposits
during nine of the past 11 weeks, compared to weekly figures from fiscal 2008.
Cancellations also appear to be leveling off, Toll said Wednesday.
The company, however, didn't give earnings guidance and cautioned that concerns
about job security and the economy continue to weigh on the minds of homebuyers.
For the first half of its fiscal year, Toll generated a net loss of $172.1
million, or $1.07 per share, narrowed from a loss of $189.7 million, or $1.20 a
share, for the year-ago period.
Building revenues for the six months totaled an estimated $807.4 million, down
about half from the first half of 2008. Toll sold 1,313 new homes, down 46
percent. |
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