Home builder has third-quarter loss

Standard Pacific Corp., the worst-performing U.S. home builder stock in the last year, on Thursday reported a third-quarter net loss after writing down the value of its land.

The net loss totaled $119.7 million, or $1.85 a share, compared with net income of $31 million, or 47 cents, a year earlier. Revenue fell 19% to $675.5 million.

The Irvine company said new-home sales in the U.S. dropped 23% in September from a year earlier as banks including Countrywide Financial Corp. tightened lending standards.

Standard Pacific had an eight-month supply of unsold new homes and more than $139.2 billion of adjustable-rate mortgages that are resetting higher in the final three months of this year, raising the possibility of more foreclosures.

“It’s still going to be a rough road here for the next couple of quarters,” said Matthew Wilcox, a bond analyst at KDP Investment Advisors Inc. in Montpelier, Vt.

Standard Pacific was projected to have a net loss of $1.83 a share, according to the average estimate of analysts in a Bloomberg survey.

Shares rose 5 cents to close at $5.25. The stock has lost 80% of its value this year, making the company the worst-performing member of a Standard & Poor’s index of 15 home builders.

The firm recorded property write-downs and other charges totaling $223.5 million in the quarter.

Pulte Homes Inc., Centex Corp., Ryland Group Inc. and MDC Holdings Inc. also reported net losses this week after recording land write-downs and other charges totaling $2.5 billion.

Standard Pacific gets most of its revenue from California. Home sales in the state fell 39% last month, and the median price of an existing home slumped 4.7% as the mortgage market’s problems hurt demand, the California Assn. of Realtors said.

The company, founded 41 years ago, said Wednesday that it was eliminating the dividend to save $10 million a year to reduce debt. It has $2.2 billion in long-term borrowings and a market value of about $380 million.