Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Dallas-based Centex loses $975 million in third quarter

By Pegasus News wire

DALLAS — Centex Corporation today reported financial results for its fiscal third quarter ended December 31, 2007. The results were not good, especially in light of where the country's top financial analysts were predicting Centex would land in 2007.

Photo not provided by Centex

The halcyon days of the housing boom would appear to be over

Highlights of the quarter ended December 31, 2007 (compared to last year's third quarter):

* Loss from continuing operations of $7.94 per diluted share

* Sales (orders) decreased 10% to 5,537 (down 2% on a per neighborhood basis)

* Reduced homebuilding SG&A expenses by 31% or $116 million

* Reduced inventory of unsold homes by 33% to 4,259

* Homebuilding cancellation rate decreased 550 basis points to 33.0%

"The housing market continues to correct and tighter mortgage underwriting standards are affecting home prices," said Tim Eller, Centex Corporation Chairman and CEO. "Our strategy and execution remain consistent, even as we expect economic conditions to soften in the near term. In our fiscal third quarter, we generated about $100 million in cash flow from housing operations, lowered our G&A expenses and reduced our unsold inventory. Our focus continues to be on selling homes, generating cash and structuring for profitability."

Fiscal 2008's third quarter revenues were $1.91 billion, 30% lower than the same quarter last year. The loss from continuing operations for the third quarter was $975 million, or a loss of $7.94 per diluted share, down from a loss of $242 million, or $2.02 per diluted share, in the previous year's fiscal third quarter.

Fiscal 2008's third quarter revenues were $1.81 billion, 30% lower than the same quarter last year as a result of a 20% decrease in closings to 6,657 homes and an 11% decrease in average sales price to $268,588. Home building reported an operating loss of $625 million for the quarter, after $554 million, or $2.79 per diluted share, in impairments and other land charges.

For the last nine months, revenues were $5.72 billion, 28% lower than the same period last year. The reported homebuilding operating loss was $1.75 billion for the nine-month period this year versus earnings of $218 million in the same period last year.

Source: Centex Corp.

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