Standard-Pacific Up 80% as Home Sales Surge

Reaping the benefits of a surge in home buying and office building, Standard-Pacific Corp., one of the state’s leading home builders, Tuesday reported an 80% fourth-quarter earnings gain and a 106% increase for all of 1984.

The Costa Mesa-based company earned $5.2 million in the fourth quarter of 1984, ended Dec. 31, compared to $2.9 million in the same quarter of 1983. Sales for the fourth quarter were $56.8 million, up 24% from sales of $45.8 million in the year-ago quarter.

For the year, Standard-Pacific earned $13 million, up from 1983 earnings of $6.3 million. Sales for 1984 were $192.9 million, up 43% from $134.5 million the year before.

Standard-Pacific officials attributed the record-breaking performance to a sharp rise in home sales, especially in California, to buyers who had delayed purchases during the 1981-1982 recession and were spurred into the market last year by a lower mortgage interest rates. In addition, a subsidiary that manufactures office panels benefited from a burst of office building construction, said Robert J. St. Lawrence, chief financial officer.

The company, which specializes in building detached single-family housing in a moderate price range, sold 41% more houses in 1984 than in 1983. Greater volume of scales and lower financing costs helped the company achieve improved profit margins, officials said.

Also, the company’s manufacturing division’s earnings increased by 61% in 1984 and the division’s sales increased by 48% last year, company officials reported. Lawrence said the gains in earnings and revenue were made by Panel Concepts, a Santa Ana-based manufacturer of office partitions that Standard Pacific owns. Sales were flat at Standard-Pacific’s other manufacturing subsidiary, Panel-Air Corp., a Costa Mesa-based manufacturer of aircraft interior parts and panels.