Presley Blames 1st Quarter Loss on Falling Home Sales

Blaming declining home sales, residential builder Presley Cos. reported Tuesday that it lost $3.2 million, or 6 cents a share, for the first quarter.

The loss is a big drop from Newport Beach company’s profit of $1.5 million, or 2 cents a share, for last year’s first quarter. The company’s revenue slipped slightly to $68 million for the first three months from $68.2 million for last year’s first quarter.

“The declines in closings, net new home orders and backlog of homes sold but not closed for the first quarter of 1995 . . . resulted from a deterioration in many of the company’s markets,” said H. Wade Cable, the company’s president.

Presley sold 341 homes during the quarter compared with 355 homes in last year’s first quarter. New orders for homes during the quarter fell 17%. The company sold $11.7 million worth of land during the quarter compared with $2.9 million sold in last year’s first three months.

The results were released after the stock market had closed on Tuesday. Presley’s stock closed at $2.375 a share, up 12.5 cents a share on the New York Stock Exchange.

Irvine Apartment Communities Inc.: The publicly traded arm of the Irvine Co., reaping the benefits of its efforts to reduce costs in its property management programs, posted earnings of $21.1 million, or 18 cents a share, for the first quarter, a 6% increase over its profit of $19.9 million, or 16 cents a share, for last year’s first three months. Quarterly revenue grew slightly to $32.6 million this year from $32.3 million last year. Its funds from operations, a key measure of profitability among real estate investment trusts, rose 10% to $13.3 million, or 44 cents per share, for the quarter from $12.2 million, or 40 cents per share.