Beazer Homes Announces Record Second Quarter Earnings, New Orders and Backlog
ATLANTA, April 25 /PRNewswire/ -- Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE: BZH) (www.beazer.com ) today announced results for the quarter ended March 31, 2000, the second quarter of its 2000 fiscal year. Highlights of the quarter, compared to the same period of the prior year, are as follows:
- Diluted EPS: $1.02 (up 12% vs. $0.91 in prior year's March quarter, which excludes the effect of inducements related to Preferred Stock in 1999; up 21% vs. prior year's March EPS of $0.84, as reported)
- Total revenues: $333 million (up 2%)
- Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) $22.3 million (up 9%)
- EBITDA Margin: 6.7% (up 70 basis points)
- Net income: $8.8 million (up 9%)
- New orders: 2,539 (up 8%), a company record
- Dollar Backlog: $635 million (up 10%), a company record
Record Second Quarter Earnings, New Orders and Backlog
Ian McCarthy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Beazer Homes, said, "We are pleased to announce record earnings for the quarter ended March 31, 2000. We are also extremely pleased to report record new orders and backlog that will help fuel our growth through the remainder of fiscal 2000 and into 2001."
Mr. McCarthy continued, "Our earnings per share for the March 2000 quarter increased by 12% while revenues increased only 2%. This improvement in our earnings reflects an increase in our gross margin and improved operating efficiency throughout our organization. The margin improvement demonstrates our ability to successfully raise prices. The average price of homes closed increased 3%, compared to the same quarter of the prior year, while the average price of homes in backlog has increased 6%."
Mr. McCarthy also said, "We are especially pleased to report record quarterly new orders of 2,539 homes, up 8% over last year's March quarter. Our number of new orders increased, while our number of active subdivisions was down 5%, which means that our sales velocity increased even more on a 'same-store' basis. This increased sales velocity demonstrates the success of many of our recently opened subdivisions, as well as the continued strong demographic and economic trends in nearly all of our markets. With our positive order trend during the quarter, our dollar backlog is now up 10% to $635 million, a new company record."
Beazer Completes 500,000 Share Repurchase Program
The Company also announced that it has completed its program to repurchase 500,000 shares of its common stock that it announced in November 1999. The average repurchase price was $18.38 per share.
David Weiss, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Beazer Homes, said, "Our program to repurchase 6% of our common stock was completed at a 35% discount to our current book value of $28.17 per share and at 4.0 times our last twelve months' earnings of $4.59 per share. The total amount of the repurchases was $9.2 million. Even with the repurchases of our common stock, we continue to maintain one of the strongest balance sheets in the homebuilding industry. We have reduced our debt to total capitalization ratio from 58% in last year's March quarter to 56% currently. We expect to further reduce our leverage by the end of our September fiscal year, as we close the homes in our record backlog."
"Clicks and Sticks": Beazer's e-Commerce Initiatives
Mr. McCarthy said, "Our March quarterly results demonstrate the continued growth that we are achieving. This growth is consistent with a plan that we introduced over a year ago to double our home closings by 2004 and more than double our earnings. We believe this plan will be dramatically enhanced by a series of initiatives currently underway at Beazer to make us the leader in e-business for the homebuilding industry. We call these initiatives 'Clicks and Sticks', emphasizing both the technological and the physical aspects of our business that are changing as we embrace the new economy."
Mr. McCarthy continued, "Our award-winning website, beazer.com, is the flagship for these initiatives, however it is only the tip of the iceberg. We will soon be rolling out mybeazerhome.com, a personal web page for all of our prospective, current and past homebuyers. Through mybeazerhome.com we will offer numerous targeted goods and services to our homebuyers, both expanding our relationship with them and striving to make them customers for life. We are also currently developing workwithbeazer.com, our B2B link to suppliers and subcontractors, which will supplement our B2B initiatives that are part of our alliance with BuildNet."
Mr. McCarthy concluded, "The internet is revolutionizing the way the world conducts business, including homebuilding. At Beazer, we have always been an innovator in the industry and we intend to be on the cutting edge of this revolution."
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, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia.
Note: Certain statements in this Press Release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Act of 1995. Such statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause actual results to differ materially. Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, but are not limited to, changes in general economic conditions, fluctuations in interest rates, increases in raw materials and labor costs, levels of competition and other factors described in the Company's Annual Report for the year ended September 30, 1999.BEAZER HOMES USA, INC. CONSOLIDATED OPERATING AND FINANCIAL DATA (Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts) FINANCIAL DATA Quarter Ended Six Months Ended March 31, March 31, 2000 1999 2000 1999 INCOME STATEMENT Revenues $332,961 $327,345 $641,706 $569,455 Costs and expenses: Home construction and land sales 275,723 272,021 531,471 473,186 Interest 6,072 6,262 11,595 11,297 Selling, general and administrative expense 36,187 35,871 70,460 64,118 Operating income 14,979 13,191 28,180 20,854 Other income (expense) (510) (45) (1,388) (92) Income before income taxes 14,469 13,146 26,792 20,762 Income taxes 5,643 5,061 10,449 7,993 Net income $8,826 $8,085 $16,343 $12,769 Dividends and other payments to preferred shareholders $--- $2,009 $--- $3,009 Net income to common shareholders: Basic $8,826 $6,076 $16,343 $9,760 Diluted $8,826 $6,290 $16,343 $10,187 Net income per share: Basic $1.06 $0.93 $1.94 $1.57 Diluted $1.02 $0.84(A) $1.88 $1.43(A) Weighted average shares outstanding, in thousands: Basic 8,308 6,550 8,403 6,219 Diluted 8,619 7,471 8,710 7,139 Interest incurred $7,659 $7,080 $14,290 $13,019 Depreciation and amortization $1,730 $1,053 $3,493 $2,061 SELECTED BALANCE SHEET DATA March 31, 2000 1999 Inventory $611,604 $553,015 Total assets 673,803 608,418 Total debt 310,000 290,000 Stockholders' equity 242,777 209,287 (A) Diluted EPS figures for 1999 include the effect of inducements related to the partial conversion of the Company's Preferred Stock. Excluding these adjustments, diluted EPS would have been $0.91 and $1.44 for the quarter and six months ended March 31, 1999, respectively. BEAZER HOMES USA, INC. CONSOLIDATED OPERATING AND FINANCIAL DATA (Continued) (Dollars in thousands) OPERATING DATA Quarter Ended Six Months Ended March 31, March 31, SELECTED OPERATING DATA 2000 1999 2000 1999 Closings: Southeast region 664 708 1,215 1,243 Southwest region 706 725 1,391 1,320 Central region 129 128 251 264 Mid-Atlantic region 250 240 503 370 Total closings 1,749 1,801 3,360 3,197 New orders, net of cancellations: Southeast region 990 958 1,527 1,555 Southwest region 981 866 1,601 1,476 Central region 200 130 288 208 Mid-Atlantic region 368 404 628 468 Total new orders 2,539 2,358 4,044 3,707(B) Backlog at end of period 3,242 3,122 Dollar value of backlog at end of period $635,328 $579,332 Active subdivisions: Southeast region 114 122 Southwest region 68 65 Central region 25 32 Mid-Atlantic region 42 42 Total active subdivisions 249 261 Quarter Ended Six Months Ended March 31, March 31, 2000 1999 2000 1999 SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL DATA: Revenues Home sales $325,612 $325,244 $629,196 $565,041 Land and lot sales 5,151 363 8,456 1,002 Mortgage origination revenue 3,627 3,314 6,734 5,850 Intercompany elimination - mortgage (1,429) (1,576) (2,680) (2,438) Total revenues $332,961 $327,345 $641,706 $569,455 Cost of home construction and land sales Home sales $273,336 $273,260 $526,074 $474,835 Land and lot sales 3,816 337 8,077 791 Intercompany elimination - mortgage (1,429) (1,576) (2,680) (2,438) Total costs of home construction and land sales $275,723 $272,021 $531,471 $473,188 Selling, general and administrative Homebuilding operations $33,767 $33,778 $66,176 $60,291 Mortgage origination operations 2,420 2,093 4,285 3,827 Total selling, general and administrative $36,187 $35,871 $70,461 $64,118 (B) New orders for the six months ended March 31, 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 /