Toll Bros. says net income will fall short

Toll Bros. Inc., the nation’s largest builder of luxury homes, warned Wednesday that it wouldn’t meet earnings projections, and it placed part of the blame on stricter lending requirements that are tough on buyers who want to upgrade to high-end homes.

In February, the Horsham, Pa.-based builder had projected 2007 home-building revenue of $4.2 billion to $4.96 billion and net income of $240 million to $305 million, or $1.46 to $1.85 a share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial were expecting profit of $1.41 a share.

“Twenty months into this housing downturn, we continue to face difficult conditions in most of our markets,” Chief Executive Robert Toll said.

In addition to tighter lending standards, “lack of buyer confidence may have served to impede the glimmers of a rebound we had started to see in early February,” he said.

Toll Bros. said second-quarter home-building revenue came in at $1.17 billion, down 19% from the same quarter a year earlier.

Shares of Toll Bros. fell 16 cents to $29.05.