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Lennar reports wider quarterly loss
2009-03-30
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Lennar Corp (LEN.N), the second-largest U.S. homebuilder on Monday reported a wider quarterly loss as it scrambled to sell off its inventory of homes in the face of a brutal economic downturn. Lennar reported a first-quarter loss of $155.9 million, or 98 cents per diluted share, including charges that totaled 71 cents a share for write-offs and other adjustments. Revenue tumbled 44 percent to $593.1 million. A year earlier, it posted a net loss of $88.2 million, or $0.56 per diluted share. "The housing market continued its downward trend throughout our first quarter," Chief Executive Stuart Miller said in a statement. "Despite historically low interest rates and some indicators pointing toward market stabilization, low consumer confidence, increased unemployment and growing foreclosure rates negatively impacted new home sales in most of our markets." The company posted a 38 percent decrease in the number of home deliveries and a 12 percent decrease in the average sales price of homes delivered in the first quarter. Overall, analysts had forecast a loss of 69 cents a share on revenue of $542.54 million, according to Reuters Estimates. Smaller rival KB Home (KBH.N) last week reported better-than-expected quarterly results, which analysts attributed to a shift at that company to build more low-priced homes intended to compete with foreclosed properties. Lennar early this year came under fire for how it treats its joint ventures. Barry Minkow, a California pastor who has served time for stock fraud but who now investigates fraud, alleged the company treats those ventures as a "Ponzi scheme." Lennar denied those claims and has sued Minkow. Lennar on Monday said its number of unconsolidated joint ventures had been reduced to 95, down from 116 in the fourth quarter. Shares of Lennar fell $1.55, for 15.11 percent, to $8.71 on the New York Stock Exchange ahead of the release of its quarterly results. (Reporting by Paul Thomasch; Editing by Gary Hill)
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