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Beazer Homes Reports Fiscal Second Quarter 2007 Financial Results

April 26, 2007 at 6:30 AM EDT

ATLANTA--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 26, 2007--Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE:BZH) (www.beazer.com) today announced financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2007. Summary results of the quarter are as follows:

    Quarter Ended March 31, 2007

    --  Reported net loss of $(43.1) million, or $(1.12) per share,
        including charges related to inventory impairments,
        impairments from joint ventures, and abandonment of land
        option contracts totaling $86.9 million on a pre-tax basis.
        Excluding charges for inventory impairments, impairments of
        investments in joint ventures and abandonment of land option
        contracts, adjusted net income was $11.2 million, or $0.30 per
        diluted share. For the second quarter of the prior year, net
        income was $104.4 million, or $2.35 per diluted share.

    --  Home closings: 2,743 homes, compared to 4,273 in the second
        quarter of the prior year.

    --  Total revenues: $826.3 million, compared to $1.27 billion in
        the second quarter of the prior year.

    --  New orders: 4,085 homes, compared to 4,224 in the second
        quarter of the prior year.

    --  Lots under control totaled 79,528 at 3/31/07, a 24% decline
        from the prior year.

    --  Unsold finished homes and total unsold homes declined 47% and
        25%, respectively from the first quarter of fiscal 2007.

    --  Net debt to capitalization was 49.1% as of 3/31/07.

    --  Backlog at 3/31/07: 5,563 homes with a sales value of $1.67
        billion compared to 9,227 homes with a sales value of $2.79
        billion in the prior year.

"We continued to experience extremely challenging operating conditions during our second quarter of fiscal 2007," said President and Chief Executive Officer, Ian J. McCarthy. "Most housing markets across the country continue to experience lower levels of demand coupled with higher levels of inventory, resulting in increased competition and continued significant discounting. While we were pleased with the level of new orders we achieved this quarter, at this point in the traditional spring selling season we still have yet to see any meaningful evidence of a sustainable recovery in the housing market, and we expect current conditions will continue to put pressure on homebuilders' operating results."

Total home closings of 2,743 during the second quarter of fiscal 2007 were 36% below the prior fiscal year's second quarter record. Net new home orders totaled 4,085 homes for the quarter, a decline of 3% from the second quarter record of the prior fiscal year. The cancellation rate for the second quarter was 29%, compared to 33% in the prior year's second quarter. The cancellation rate was also lower sequentially from 43% in the first quarter of fiscal 2007.

"During the second quarter, we continued to focus on initiatives aimed at strengthening our financial capabilities and positioning ourselves for a significantly more competitive environment as we entered the spring selling season. These initiatives include ongoing comprehensive reviews of our direct costs, converting existing backlog into closings and reducing unsold home inventories through integrated national marketing and promotion efforts," McCarthy continued. "We believe this disciplined approach, coupled with our broad geographic and product diversity, positions us well for the continuing difficult market environment and the eventual upturn. We maintain that the long-term industry fundamentals, based on demographic driven demand and employment trends, together with further supply constraints, remain compelling."

The Company remains focused on reducing costs throughout the business and maintaining a strong balance sheet and liquidity during the challenging business environment, in an effort to position the Company to capitalize on future opportunities which will arise when the housing market recovers. The Company has proactively reduced its controlled lot count by over 24% compared to March of the prior year. The Company remains committed to aligning its land supply and inventory levels to current expectations for home closings, and continues to exercise caution and discipline with regard to land and land development spending.

During the second quarter, margins continued to be negatively impacted by both higher levels of discounting and reduced revenue volume as compared to the same period a year ago. In addition, the Company incurred pre-tax charges to abandon land option contracts, to recognize inventory impairments, and to record impairments in investments in joint ventures of $19.1 million, $60.8 million, and $7.1 million, respectively. The results for the second quarter also included a $6.0 million reduction of the warranty accrual for the remediation of homes in connection with the Trinity Homes class action settlement in October 2004, based on a reduction in the estimated remaining remediation costs.

United States Attorney Inquiry and Outstanding Litigation

As previously disclosed, Beazer Homes received a subpoena from the United States Attorney's office in the Western District of North Carolina, seeking the production of documents focusing on the Company's mortgage origination services and, together with certain of its subsidiaries and current and former officers, has been named as a defendant in a putative securities class action lawsuit and a putative homeowner class action lawsuit. The Company has also recently learned that a second putative homeowner class action lawsuit has been filed in South Carolina and that it has been named as a nominal defendant in a shareholder derivative complaint filed against certain of its current and former executive officers and directors claiming violations of Section 10(b) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and Rule 10b-5 and breaches of fiduciary duty based on matters related to the Company's mortgage origination business. The Company is cooperating with the United States Attorney and the document production request and intends to vigorously defend each of the lawsuits. The Audit Committee of the Beazer Homes Board of Directors has initiated an internal review of Beazer Homes' mortgage origination business and related matters and has retained independent legal counsel and an independent financial consultant to assist with that review. The U.S. Attorney inquiry and the related internal review by the Audit Committee and the outstanding lawsuits are in their early stages. At this time, the Company cannot predict the outcome of these matters or the length of time it will take to resolve them.

Fiscal 2007 Outlook

The current housing market environment continues to be characterized by lower demand and higher inventories, with heavy discounting needed to drive meaningful sales volume. Given current market conditions, and the low visibility as to when conditions may improve, the Company is not comfortable at this time updating its earnings per share outlook for fiscal 2007 and is withdrawing its previously-issued outlook.

During this period, the Company will focus on maintaining balance sheet strength, continue to reduce costs, and maximize its financial resources to better position the Company to take advantage of those opportunities that will arise when conditions stabilize. Steps taken to date to align the Company's cost structure with the current environment are consistent with the Company's goal to be in the top quartile of its peer group with respect to margins and returns.

Conference Call

The Company will hold a conference call today, April 26 2007, at 10:00 AM ET to discuss the results and take questions. You may listen to the conference call and view the Company's slide presentation over the internet by going to the "Investor Relations" section of the Company's website at www.beazer.com. To access the conference call by telephone, listeners should dial 888-405-9176. To be admitted to the call, verbally supply the passcode "BZH". A replay of the call will be available shortly after the conclusion of the live call. To directly access the replay, dial 888-562-4353 (available until 5:00 PM ET on May 3, 2007), or visit www.beazer.com.

Beazer Homes USA, Inc., headquartered in Atlanta, is one of the country's ten largest single-family homebuilders with operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, Virginia and West Virginia and also provides mortgage origination and title services to its homebuyers. Beazer Homes, a Fortune 500 Company, is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "BZH."

Use of Non-GAAP Financial Information

In addition to the results in this press release reported in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"), the Company has provided information regarding adjusted net income and earnings per share which excludes the effects of charges for inventory impairments, impairments in investments in joint ventures and abandonment of land option contracts recorded during the second quarters of fiscal 2007 and fiscal 2006. Management believes that these adjusted financial results are useful to both management and investors in the analysis of the Company's financial performance when comparing it to prior periods and that they provide investors with an important perspective on the current underlying operating performance of the business by isolating the impact of non-cash charges related to inventory valuation.

Below is a reconciliation of these non-GAAP financial measures for the quarters ended March 31, 2007 and March 31, 2006 to the most directly comparable financial measures calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP:



                                                   Quarter   Quarter
                                                     Ended     Ended
                                                     March     March
                                                    31, 2007  31, 2006
                                                   --------- ---------

(in thousands, except per share data)


Reported net (loss) income                         $(43,089) $104,351
Reported net (loss) income per common share          ($1.12)    $2.35

Adjusted Net Income and Earnings Per Share:
Reported net (loss) income                         $(43,089) $104,351
After-tax charges for inventory impairments,
 impairments of investments in joint ventures
 and abandonment of land option contracts            54,334     6,002
                                                   --------- ---------
Adjusted net income, excluding charges for
 inventory impairments, impairments in joint
 ventures and abandonment of land option contracts  $11,245  $110,353
                                                   ========= =========

After-tax interest add-back to pro-forma net income
 for 'if converted' treatment of convertible notes
 in calculation of diluted net income per common
 share                                               $1,347    $1,347

Adjusted diluted net income per common share,
 excluding charges for inventory impairments,
 impairments in joint ventures and abandonment of
 land option contracts                                $0.30     $2.48

Diluted weighted average shares outstanding          42,651    45,066

Forward-Looking Statements

Certain statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements" within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform 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, changes in levels of customer demand, fluctuations in interest rates, increases in raw materials and labor costs, levels of competition, implementation of overhead realignments and associated costs, potential liability as a result of construction defect, product liability and warranty claims, the outcome of the U.S. Attorney inquiry and related internal review, the class action lawsuits, derivative claims and similar proceedings and other factors described in the Company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended September 30, 2006 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on December 8, 2006 and other reports filed from time to time with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

                        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,
                     ------------------------- -----------------------
                        2007         2006         2007        2006
                     ------------------------- ----------- -----------
INCOME STATEMENT
Total revenue          $826,295    $1,269,091  $1,629,309  $2,374,707
Home construction and
 land sales expenses    701,029       944,992   1,363,011   1,774,851
Inventory impairments
 and option contract
 abandonments            79,854         9,604     199,777      12,531
                     ----------- ------------- ----------- -----------
Gross profit             45,412       314,495      66,521     587,325

Selling, general and
 administrative
 expenses               109,729       149,793     225,097     282,871
                     ------------------------- -----------------------
Operating (loss)
 income                 (64,317)      164,702    (158,576)    304,454
Equity in (loss)
 income of
 unconsolidated joint
 ventures                (7,692)          330     (10,052)        682
Other income, net         2,694         1,582       4,687       5,685
                     ----------- ------------- ----------- -----------

(Loss) income before
 income taxes           (69,315)      166,614    (163,941)    310,821
(Benefit) provision
 for income taxes       (26,226)       62,263     (61,846)    116,557
                     ------------------------- -----------------------
Net (loss) income      $(43,089)     $104,351   $(102,095)   $194,264
                     ========================= =======================

Net (loss) income per
 common share:
 Basic                   $(1.12)        $2.58      $(2.66)      $4.77
                     ========================= =======================
 Diluted                 $(1.12)        $2.35      $(2.66)      $4.34
                     ========================= =======================


Weighted average
 shares outstanding,
 in thousands:
 Basic                   38,427        40,442      38,353      40,703
 Diluted                 38,427        45,066      38,353      45,395

Interest incurred       $35,091       $27,903     $69,394     $53,436
Interest amortized to
 cost of sales          $29,427       $20,542     $49,542     $38,717
EPS interest add back
 - Convertible Debt         n/a        $1,347         n/a      $2,691
Depreciation and
 amortization            $2,650        $6,332      $8,929     $11,042

SELECTED BALANCE
 SHEET DATA           March 31,  September 30,  March 31,
                        2007         2006         2006
                     ------------------------- -----------
Cash                   $224,482      $172,443     $15,183
Inventory             3,371,581     3,520,332   3,481,162
Total assets          4,191,024     4,559,431   4,111,743
Total debt (net of
 discount of $3,302,
 $3,578 and $3,883)   1,762,473     1,838,660   1,514,069
Shareholders' equity  1,603,135     1,701,923   1,576,943


Inventory Breakdown
Homes under
 construction        $1,186,280    $1,368,056  $1,468,443
Development projects
 in progress          1,647,947     1,623,819   1,569,384
Unimproved land held
 for future
 development             12,095        12,213      63,922
Model homes              62,963        44,803      42,891
Consolidated
 inventory not owned    462,296       471,441     336,522
                     ----------- ------------- -----------
                     $3,371,581    $3,520,332  $3,481,162
                     =========== ============= ===========
                        BEAZER HOMES USA, INC.
              CONSOLIDATED OPERATING AND FINANCIAL DATA
                        (Dollars in thousands)


OPERATING DATA
------------------------------

                                   Quarter Ended      Six Months Ended
                                     March 31,           March 31,
                              ----------------------- ----------------
SELECTED OPERATING DATA             2007        2006      2007   2006
                              ----------------------- --------- ------
Closings:
 West region                         674       1,246     1,403  2,257
 Mid-Atlantic region                 209         502       407    955
 Florida region                      349         536       595  1,013
 Southeast region                    729         919     1,408  1,785
 Other homebuilding                  782       1,070     1,590  2,092
                              ----------------------- ----------------
Total closings                     2,743       4,273     5,403  8,102
                              ======================= ================
New orders, net of
 cancellations:
 West region                       1,054         862     1,497  1,938
 Mid-Atlantic region                 559         517       795    800
 Florida region                      441         418       534  1,073
 Southeast region                  1,016       1,148     1,479  2,020
 Other homebuilding                1,015       1,279     1,559  2,265
                              ----------------------- ----------------
Total new orders                   4,085       4,224     5,864  8,096
                              ======================= ================
Backlog units at end of
 period:
 West region                       1,269       2,675
 Mid-Atlantic region                 965       1,038
 Florida region                      447       1,319
 Southeast region                  1,392       1,989
 Other homebuilding                1,490       2,206
                              -----------------------
Total backlog units                5,563       9,227
                              =======================
Dollar value of backlog at end
 of period                    $1,669,949  $2,793,519
                              =======================

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

                             Quarter Ended        Six Months Ended
                               March 31,              March 31,
                         --------------------- -----------------------
SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL
 DATA:                     2007       2006        2007        2006
                         --------- ----------- ----------- -----------

Revenues
 Homebuilding operations $777,140  $1,239,859  $1,559,136  $2,313,286
 Land and lot sales        41,539      20,596      54,206      45,551
 Financial Services        11,226      13,135      22,969      24,113
 Intercompany elimination  (3,610)     (4,499)     (7,002)     (8,243)
                         --------------------- ----------- -----------
Total revenues           $826,295  $1,269,091  $1,629,309  $2,374,707
                         ===================== =========== ===========
Gross profit
 Homebuilding operations  $36,054    $299,226     $41,356    $561,376
 Land and lot sales        (1,868)      2,134       2,196       1,836
 Financial Services        11,226      13,135      22,969      24,113
                         --------------------- ----------- -----------
Total gross profit        $45,412    $314,495     $66,521    $587,325
                         ===================== =========== ===========
Selling, general and
 administrative
 Homebuilding operations $100,549    $139,605    $207,404    $262,000
 Financial Services         9,180      10,188      17,693      20,871
                         --------------------- ----------- -----------
Total selling, general
 and administrative      $109,729    $149,793    $225,097    $282,871
                         ===================== =========== ===========


SELECTED SEGMENT INFORMATION
Revenue:
 West region             $266,722    $471,854    $564,629    $840,446
 Mid-Atlantic region      102,366     233,108     194,594     432,614
 Florida region           106,409     167,769     197,654     313,350
 Southeast region         183,626     188,969     338,755     365,902
 Other homebuilding       159,556     198,755     317,710     406,525
 Financial services        11,226      13,135      22,969      24,113
 Intercompany elimination  (3,610)     (4,499)     (7,002)     (8,243)
                         --------------------- ----------- -----------
Total revenue            $826,295  $1,269,091  $1,629,309  $2,374,707
                         ===================== =========== ===========
                                -
Operating (loss) income
 West region             $(20,607)    $87,242    $(47,111)   $150,981
 Mid-Atlantic region      (17,221)     53,115     (20,472)    102,616
 Florida region             6,773      38,256     (21,720)     68,887
 Southeast region          14,705      10,573      23,139      26,676
 Other homebuilding       (16,846)     (7,131)    (32,554)     (6,411)
 Financial services         2,046       2,947       5,276       3,242
                         --------------------- -----------------------
 Segment operating (loss)
  income                  (31,150)    185,002     (93,442)    345,991
 Corporate and
  unallocated             (33,167)    (20,300)    (65,134)    (41,537)
                         --------------------- -----------------------
Total operating (loss)
 income                  $(64,317)   $164,702   $(158,576)   $304,454
                         ===================== =======================

CONTACT: Beazer Homes USA, Inc.
Leslie H. Kratcoski, 770-829-3764
Vice President, Investor Relations & Corporate
Communications lkratcos@beazer.com

SOURCE: Beazer Homes USA, Inc.