ATLANTA, Nov. 2 /PRNewswire/ -- Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE: BZH; www.beazer.com) today announced results for the year and quarter ended September 30, 2000. Highlights of the year and quarter, compared to the same periods of the prior year, are as follows:

Year Ended September 30, 2000

• Diluted EPS: $5.05 (up 22% vs. $4.15 in prior year)

    *  Home closings: 7,857 (up 4%); total revenues $1,528 million (up 10%)
    *  Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
       (EBITDA): $106.0 million (up 16%)
    *  Net income: $43.6 million (up 18%)
    *  New orders: 8,228 (up 9%)
    *  Backlog: 2,929 homes (up 15%), sales value $576 million (up 20%)

Quarter Ended September 30, 2000

• Diluted EPS: $1.94 (up 24% vs. $1.57 in prior year's September quarter)

• Home closings: 2,518 (up 4%); total revenues $497 million (up 9%)

• Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA): $37.9 million (up 15%)

• Net income: $16.7 million (up 20%)

• New orders: 1,994 (up 18%)

Record Earnings For September 2000 Quarter and Year

Ian McCarthy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Beazer Homes, said, "We close another record year at Beazer Homes with an extremely strong fourth quarter and considerable forward momentum for the coming year. For both the quarter and year ended September 30, 2000, home closings, revenues, net income and earnings per share all set new company records. In addition, our record annual new orders contributed to an increase in our dollar backlog, up 20% to $576 million, another fiscal year end company record."

Mr. McCarthy continued, "One of the major drivers of our record quarterly and annual earnings is our dramatically improved gross margin. Our gross margin, before amortization of capitalized interest, of 17.8% for the year ended September 30, 2000 and 18.3% for the quarter, both represent record gross margins for the respective periods. Three years ago we embarked upon a number of initiatives to dramatically improve our margins. We started opening design centers, commenced mortgage operations and implemented an incentive plan based on Value Created, a variation of Economic Value Added. These initiatives have contributed to the 240 basis point improvement in gross margin that we have experienced since 1997."

Mr. McCarthy added, "Our margins also benefited from our continued ability to raise prices throughout fiscal 2000. This trend continued through the September quarter and based on the margins in our record backlog, we expect our gross margin percentage in fiscal 2001 to exceed the annual record set in 2000."

Mr. McCarthy also said, "We have seen new order increases accelerate during fiscal 2000. The 18% increase in new orders for the September quarter was the highest quarterly increase that we have achieved since 1998. New orders for the quarter were up in all four of our regions and were particularly strong in California, Nevada and Texas. Our overall increase in new orders is significantly higher than the 6% increase in our number of active subdivisions at the end of the quarter and is based upon fully comparable figures, with no acquisitions during the periods involved."

Mr. McCarthy said, "We believe that our positive order comparison is beginning to reflect two major trends that will continue to benefit large public homebuilders and especially Beazer. The first is a gain in market share from smaller private builders, who are less well capitalized and whose access to capital is becoming increasingly constrained. The second is the benefit of technology, especially the internet, which is both contributing to a gain in market share for national builders and to improved profitability. We expect both of these trends to accelerate over the coming years."

David S. Weiss, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, commented, "Fiscal 2000 was another year in which we achieved dramatic growth while still maintaining our balance sheet strength and conservative financial policies. We ended the year with a debt to total capitalization of 49% and interest coverage (EBITDA divided by interest incurred) of 3.4 times."

Mr. Weiss continued, "The maintenance of our debt to total capitalization below 50% is particularly noteworthy given our stock repurchases during the year. We took advantage of the extreme undervaluation of our stock by repurchasing 500,000 shares at an average price of $18.38 per share, a 41% discount to our year end book value of $31.35 per share."

Mr. Weiss concluded, "Conservative financial management continues to be a core part of our strategy at Beazer Homes. We believe that the maintenance of a strong balance sheet is critical to achieving our growth objectives and to taking advantage of opportunities that may arise. The bond rating agencies have recognized our consistent financial management and strong performance. During fiscal 2000, Standard & Poor's upgraded our bonds and Moody's Investors Service placed us on positive outlook for another upgrade, following their previous upgrade in April 1999. We intend to continue to manage our financial position prudently to warrant further upgrades from both agencies."

Further Earnings Growth Expected in 2001

Mr. McCarthy said, "We enter fiscal 2001 with optimism about the prospects for further increases in earnings. Our number of active subdivisions is currently up 6% over the same period last year. We expect to maintain this percentage increase in our number of active subdivisions throughout fiscal 2001 and target achieving at least the same increase in home closings. The average price of homes closed is likely to decline slightly as we expand our presence in the first time buyer and first move up markets."

Mr. McCarthy continued, "Based on the factors that I have described, we target achieving earnings for fiscal 2001 of between $5.75 and $6.00 per share, a 14% to 19% increase over fiscal 2000. Combined with our 22% increase in EPS in fiscal 2000, this would put us ahead of the benchmarks in the five year plan that we introduced in fiscal 1999, when we set a target of $9.00 per share for earnings by fiscal 2004."

Mr. McCarthy concluded, "We are cautiously optimistic about the probability of achieving our targets for fiscal 2001. We understand that short-term volatility in financial markets, interest rates, the national economy and other factors could make the achievement of our targets more challenging; however, our strong backlog going into the year gives us a good running start. We also believe that over the long term, positive demographic trends, such as continued population growth and household formation fueled by immigration, will continue to drive our business. These demographic trends, as well as the further efficiencies that we expect to gain through our aggressive E-commerce initiatives, will help us achieve our short-term and long-term targets."

Beazer Homes USA, Inc., based in Atlanta, Georgia, is one of the country's ten largest single-family homebuilders with operations in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.

                              BEAZER HOMES USA, INC.
                    CONSOLIDATED OPERATING AND FINANCIAL DATA
                 (Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

    FINANCIAL DATA
                                Quarter Ended                Year Ended
                                 September 30,              September 30,
                              2000          1999         2000          1999
    INCOME STATEMENT
    Revenues              $496,602      $454,189   $1,527,865    $1,394,074
    Costs and expenses:
      Home construction
       and land sales      405,533       373,810    1,255,918     1,153,442
      Interest               8,857         7,700       27,704        25,469
      Selling, general and
       administrative
       expense              55,709        48,674      168,620       153,363
    Operating income        26,503        24,005       75,623        61,800
    Other income/(expense)     856          (893)      (4,138)       (1,256)

    Income before income
     taxes                  27,359        23,112       71,485        60,544
    Income taxes            10,670         9,201       27,879        23,610
    Net income             $16,689       $13,911      $43,606       $36,934

    Dividends and other
     payments to preferred
     shareholders             $---          $---         $---        $3,343
    Net income to common
     shareholders:
      Basic                $16,689       $13,911      $43,606       $33,591
      Diluted              $16,689       $13,911      $43,606       $36,934

    Net income per share:
      Basic                  $2.06         $1.63        $5.28         $4.59
      Diluted                $1.94         $1.57        $5.05         $4.15

    Weighted average shares
     outstanding, in thousands:
      Basic                  8,088         8,541        8,254         7,320
      Diluted                8,614         8,862        8,630         8,895

    Interest incurred       $8,292        $6,893      $30,898       $26,874
    Depreciation and
     amortization           $1,693        $2,059       $6,852        $5,508

    SELECTED BALANCE SHEET DATA               September 30,
                                            2000         1999

    Inventory                           $629,663     $532,559
    Total assets                         698,879      594,568
    Total debt                           255,000      215,000
    Shareholders' equity                 270,538      234,662




                              BEAZER HOMES USA, INC.
              CONSOLIDATED OPERATING AND FINANCIAL DATA (Continued)
                              (Dollars in thousands)

OPERATING DATA

                                Quarter Ended               Year Ended
                                 September 30,              September 30,
    SELECTED OPERATING DATA   2000          1999         2000          1999
    Closings:
      Southeast region       1,038         1,069        3,016         3,108
      Southwest region         887           803        3,030         2,857
      Central region           238           170          642           597
      Mid-Atlantic region      355           389        1,169         1,027
    Total closings           2,518         2,431        7,857         7,589
    New orders, net of
     cancellations:
      Southeast region         660           606        2,892         3,041
      Southwest region         853           646        3,393         2,900
      Central region           166           130          695           485
      Mid-Atlantic region      315           312        1,248         1,109
    Total new orders         1,994         1,694        8,228         7,535(A)
    Backlog at end of period 2,929         2,558
    Dollar value of backlog
     at end of period     $576,493      $481,514
    Active subdivisions:
      Southeast region         118           111
      Southwest region          68            63
      Central region            28            26
      Mid-Atlantic region       41            41
    Total active subdivisions  255           241


                                  Quarter Ended             12 Months Ended
                                  September 30,               September 30,
                              2000          1999         2000          1999
    SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL DATA:

    Revenues
      Home sales          $489,376      $446,036   $1,498,196    $1,376,557
      Land and lot sales     3,415         5,998       19,017        10,553
      Mortgage origination
       revenue               6,386         3,742       17,671        13,059
      Intercompany
       elimination -
       mortgage             (2,575)       (1,587)      (7,019)       (6,095)
    Total revenues        $496,602      $454,189   $1,527,865    $1,394,074
    Cost of home
     construction and
     land sales
      Home sales          $405,270      $371,098   $1,248,099    $1,151,460
      Land and lot sales     2,838         4,299       14,838         8,077
      Intercompany
       elimination -
       mortgage             (2,575)       (1,587)      (7,019)       (6,095)
    Total costs of home
     construction and
     land sales           $405,533      $373,810   $1,255,918    $1,153,442
    Selling, general and
     administrative
      Homebuilding
       operations          $52,159       $46,473     $157,794      $145,201
      Mortgage origination
       operations            3,550         2,201       10,826         8,162
    Total selling, general
     and administrative    $55,709       $48,674     $168,620      $153,363

(A) New orders for the twelve months ended September 30, 1999 do not

include 555 homes in backlog acquired in a business acquisition. SOURCE Beazer Homes USA, Inc.

CONTACT: David S. Weiss, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, of Beazer Homes USA, Inc., 404-250-3420, or dweiss@beazer.com /