Home Builder Ryland’s Profit Climbs 28% in Fourth Quarter

Ryland Group Inc. on Wednesday reported a 28% increase in fourth-quarter profit, to $86.1 million, and a 24% increase in the company’s order backlog.

The fourth-quarter earnings amounted to $3.29 a share, beating analysts’ estimates by 40 cents. Revenue rose 15% to more than $1 billion.

Calabasas-based Ryland reported a year-end backlog of home orders totaling $1.5 billion, representing contracts to build 5,841 homes.

In the year-earlier period, the company earned $67.5 million, or $2.50 a share.

Ryland’s strongest markets were in Virginia and Maryland, Chairman R. Chad Dreier said. California remained a solid performer, he said, and the company opened a new division in the Inland Empire during the fourth quarter to help feed the state’s insatiable demand for homes.

“There is significantly more demand than supply and I just don’t see that changing in the near future,” Dreier said.

California markets where the company is active include the Bay Area, San Diego County and the Central Valley, including Sacramento.

Ryland’s softest market is Charlotte, N.C., Dreier said, where bank consolidations and job losses in the textile industry have cut demand.

Profit for all of 2003 was $241.7 million, or $9.11 a share, which beat Wall Street estimates by 35 cents. That compared with $185.6 million, or $6.64, in 2002. Revenue for the 12 months was up almost 20% to $3.4 billion.

Shares of Ryland closed up $4.93 at $79.43 on the New York Stock Exchange before the company announced its results. That closing price reflected a comeback from Jan. 8, when Ryland’s shares plunged 12% to $72.89 on the news that the company’s orders had slumped 9% in the fourth quarter, with the weakness concentrated in Houston and Dallas.