Lennar posts loss amid weak market

Lennar Corp., one of the nation’s largest home builders, said Thursday that it swung to a loss in the first quarter as it absorbed charges to adjust land values while new-home sales and prices sank amid the stumbling real estate market.

Lennar reported a loss of $88.2 million, or 56 cents a share, in the three months ended Feb. 29 compared with a profit of $68.6 million, or 43 cents, a year earlier. Sales fell 62% to $1.06 billion.

After one-time items, Lennar reported a loss from continuing operations of 18 cents a share. The adjusted results were better than estimates on Wall Street for a loss of $1.07 a share, according to Thomson Financial.

Deliveries of new homes were down 60% to 3,596 homes. New-home orders were down 57% to 3,045, with a cancellation rate of 26%.

Despite the drop in sales and orders, Lennar said it was encouraged that it had no outstanding balance on its credit facility and had $1.1 billion in cash for home building, as of the quarter’s end.

Lennar shares rose 31 cents, or 1.8%, to $17.90.