Kaufman & Broad Reports Record Year
Kaufman & Broad Home Corp., one of the top U.S. home builders, Thursday reported higher fiscal fourth-quarter earnings and record results for fiscal 2000 and said it expects to beat analyst estimates for 2001.
The Los Angeles-based company said fiscal fourth-quarter earnings rose 14% to $73.4 million, or $2 per diluted share, for the quarter ended Nov. 30, up from $64.5 million, or $1.36 a share, a year earlier. Analysts’ consensus estimate was $1.81 a share, according to First Call.
For fiscal 2000, Kaufman reported record earnings of $210 million, thanks in part to overall economic conditions that helped all home builders, analysts said.
“They’ve done several things internally in addition to the good year for home construction,” said Legg Mason analyst David Weaver.
Kaufman & Broad shares fell 6 cents to close at $34.38 on the New York Stock Exchange.
Kaufman reported delivering a record 22,847 homes during the fiscal year.
Excluding a one-time gain on the initial public offering of the company’s French subsidiary, diluted earnings per share for the year were $4.25. In fiscal 1999, earnings were $159.2 million, or $3.33 a share, excluding a secondary marketing trading loss related to the company’s mortgage banking subsidiary.
Analysts’ consensus earnings estimate for the full year was $4.08 per share, according to First Call.
Kaufman said its fourth-quarter revenue rose 1.6% to $1.24 billion from $1.22 billion a year earlier. Deliveries totaled 7,168 homes in the quarter, up from 6,939 a year earlier.
Housing gross profit margin rose to 20.6% from 19.9%, while selling, general and administrative expenses fell. Full-year revenue rose to $3.93 billion from $3.84 billion in the previous year.
Chief Executive Bruce Karatz said in a conference call Thursday that he expects earnings per share of $4.60 to $4.65 in 2001 as the demand for housing accelerates. Analysts’ consensus estimate for 2001 is $4.59, according to First Call.
Kaufman may see softness in future sales, but the strength of its backlog bolsters its confidence for the first several months of the year, Karatz said.
