Standard Pacific’s Quarterly Profit Dips Despite Sales Gain, Good Signs

With the housing market stuck in a slump, Standard Pacific Corp. said Tuesday that its third-quarter profit fell 58%.

Even so, the Costa Mesa home builder said there were encouraging signs because of a 53% increase in sales during the quarter. Revenue was $80.8 million, up 52% from $53 million for the same period last year. Earnings, however, were $466,000, or 2 cents a share, down from $1.1 million, or 4 cents a share, a year earlier.

Company officials attributed the increase in sales to robust demand for Standard Pacific’s mortgage and banking operations services, including home refinancings.

Standard Pacific also said that its home building divisions showed signs of improvement. The company delivered 231 new homes compared to just 154 homes in the third quarter last year. Standard Pacific also received 186 orders for new homes, up 6% from the same period last year.

“I would say that overall, I feel more comfortable about 1992 than I did about 1991,” said April Morris, chief financial officer. The company has also improved its debt-to-equity ratio, she said, and recently signed a two-year revolving credit facility agreement with Bank of America, its principal lender.

For the first nine months of the year, the company’s profit fell 44% to $3.7 million, or 13 cents a share, from $6.6 million, or 24 cents a share, for the same period a year earlier. Revenue rose 2% to $224 million from $219.3 million.

Standard Pacific converted from a partnership to a corporation in late 1991.