More Red Ink and Dark Days for J. M. Peters : Earnings: The Newport Beach luxury home builder posts a $57.8-million loss, or $4.13 a share, for fiscal year. Auditors question company's viability.

More Red Ink and Dark Days for J. M. Peters : Earnings: The Newport Beach luxury home builder posts a $57.8-million loss, or $4.13 a share, for fiscal year. Auditors question company’s viability.

By SUSAN CHRISTIAN

June 3, 1992 12 AM PT

TIMES STAFF WRITER

NEWPORT BEACH —

Luxury home builder J. M. Peters, a subsidiary of a failed Texas thrift, continued to ooze red ink as it posted a $57.8-million annual loss Tuesday--equal to $4.13 per share--for its fiscal year ended Feb. 29.

Peters incurred a loss of $51 million, or $3.65 per share, for its fourth quarter. In the previous fiscal year, the Newport Beach-based company reported losses of $108 million for the year--$102 million of it coming in the final quarter.

Revenue decreased to $184.9 million for fiscal 1992 from $215.5 million in fiscal 1991. Fourth-quarter revenue dropped to $38.1 million from $53.7 million in the corresponding quarter in 1991.

The home builder is a subsidiary of San Jacinto Savings & Loan Assn. in Houston, which was seized by federal regulators in December, 1990.

Peters said that in the first quarter of the current fiscal year San Jacinto Savings has dropped a $60.7-million claim against it regarding a tax-sharing arrangement it was involved in with the thrift and its previous owner, the Southmark Corp.

Had the claim been released before Feb. 29, the company said, it would have reported a positive net worth of $35 million. Instead it had a negative net worth of $25.6 million at fiscal year end.

In fiscal 1990, at the tail end of the housing boom, Peters had a profit of $25.3 million on $315.7 million in revenue. It specialized in larger homes valued at more than $300,000--the type hardest hit by the downturn in the market.

The company closed sales on just 395 homes in fiscal 1992, compared to 541 the year before and 775 in 1990. Revenue from land and lot sales increased to $45.5 million for fiscal 1992 compared to $1.7 million for the prior year. As of May 24, the company had 16 completed homes in its inventory.

The continuing losses by Peters, as well as the unavailability of construction financing, led company auditors to question its ability to continue operating as a going concern.

Also on Tuesday, Peters said it “has been informed that Capital Pacific Homes has been selected as the leading bidder” to buy its common stock and take over its debt.