Investors | News Releases | Beazer Homes Announces Record Fourth Quarter EPS of $3.03, Up 18%, And Fiscal 2002 EPS of $10.74, Up 31

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Beazer Homes Announces Record Fourth Quarter EPS of $3.03, Up 18%, And Fiscal 2002 EPS of $10.74, Up 31

November 5, 2002 at 4:19 PM EST

ATLANTA, Nov. 5 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Beazer Homes USA, Inc. (NYSE: BZH) (www.beazer.com ) today announced results for the quarter and year ended September 30, 2002. Highlights of the quarter and year, compared to the same periods of the prior year, are as follows:

Quarter Ended September 30, 2002

  • Record Diluted EPS: $3.03 (up 18% vs. $2.56 in prior year)

  • Home closings: 4,839 (up 58%)

  • Total revenues $904 million (up 47%)

  • Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA): $84.5 million (up 60%)

  • EBITDA Margin: 9.3% (up 80 basis points)

  • Net income: $40.7 million (up 71%)

  • Record September quarter new orders: 3,731 (up 59%)

Year Ended September 30, 2002

  • Record Diluted EPS: $10.74 (up 31% vs. $8.18 in prior year)

  • Home closings: 13,603 (up 50%)

  • Total revenues $2.6 billion (up 46%)

  • Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA): $254.5 million (up 53%)

  • EBITDA Margin: 9.6% (up 40 basis points)

  • Net income: $122.6 million (up 64%)

  • Record new orders: 13,610 (up 36%)

Record Year-End Backlog

  • Record year-end backlog: 6,519 homes (up 64%), sales value $1.3 billion (up 67%)

Record Earnings for September Quarter and Fiscal Year

Ian J. McCarthy, President and Chief Executive Officer of Beazer Homes, said, "We are extremely pleased to announce a strong finish to another record- breaking year. Earnings per share of $3.03 for the 2002 fourth fiscal quarter were up 18% from the fourth quarter of fiscal 2001 and represent an all-time quarterly record for Beazer. EPS for the full year was $10.74, up 31% over fiscal 2001 and also an all-time Company record. The record earnings for both the quarter and the full year reflect significant increases in our operating profit margin over the prior year."

Record Fourth Quarter New Orders and Year-End Backlog

Mr. McCarthy said, "Perhaps as important as our record financial performance during the fourth quarter of fiscal 2002 are the increases we achieved in new orders and backlog, breaking previous fourth quarter records. During the quarter we had 3,731 new orders for homes, a 59% increase over fiscal 2001. New orders increased during the quarter in both our Beazer Homes and our Crossmann Communities operations acquired in April 2002. New orders for the quarter were up 14% compared to 3,286 combined new orders, on a pro forma basis, for Beazer and Crossmann in the September quarter of fiscal 2001."

Mr. McCarthy also said, "The integration of Crossmann Communities with Beazer Homes has been proceeding extremely well, as demonstrated by the combined increase in our new orders. At this point we have fully combined those operations where there was overlap between the two companies. With the start of our new fiscal year, we have also fully implemented our Value Created framework for managing the homebuilding business throughout Crossmann. As with Beazer's operations, we expect this to drive growth and profitability while controlling the balance sheet."

Mr. McCarthy also said, "Our year-end backlog now stands at 6,519 homes with a sales value of $1.3 billion, up 67% from the sales value of backlog at September 30, 2001. We believe that this record year-end backlog gives us good visibility for another record-breaking year in fiscal 2003."

Profit Margin in Fiscal 2002 Sets New Record; Strong Financial Position

David S. Weiss, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer, said, "During fiscal 2002, we increased our earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) margin by 40 basis points, from 9.2% to 9.6%, a new annual record. Our EBITDA margin increased by 80 basis points in the fourth quarter. We believe that this improved margin reflects a strong housing market, the realization of profit improvement initiatives that we have implemented and the increased leverage over our fixed costs with the addition of Crossmann in the current year. We target further improvements in our EBITDA margin and believe that we can achieve an EBITDA margin of over 10% in fiscal 2003."

Mr. Weiss continued, "We strengthened our financial position at Beazer during fiscal 2002 and improved our credit statistics. Our interest coverage (EBITDA divided by interest incurred) increased from 4.6x to 5.0x and at year- end our debt to total capitalization improved to 48% from 53% at September 30, 2001. Our net debt to total capitalization now stands at 43%, including $125 million of cash on our balance sheet. Improvements in debt to total capitalization and interest coverage were achieved taking into account significant growth and completion of a major acquisition. A strong balance sheet gives us flexibility to react to changes in the economic environment and take advantage of opportunities in a consolidating industry. Our goal is to continue to show year-over-year improvements in our leverage and interest coverage throughout fiscal 2003."

Beazer Targets EPS of $12.25 Per Share in Fiscal 2003

Mr. McCarthy said, "Our strong backlog gives us confidence in growth in fiscal 2003 relative to fiscal 2002. We believe that strong demographics combined with constraints on housing supply will continue to drive earnings for large homebuilders like Beazer. Therefore, we are raising our guidance for fiscal 2003 from $12.00 to $12.25."

Beazer Homes USA, Inc., based in Atlanta, Georgia, is one of the country's ten largest single-family homebuilders with operations in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, Nevada, New Jersey, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas and Virginia. Beazer Homes also provides mortgage origination and title services to its homebuyers.

Note: 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, 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, 2001.

-- Table Follows --

                            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,
                                    2002        2001       2002        2001
    INCOME STATEMENT
    Revenues                      $904,331   $617,005 $ 2,641,173  $1,805,177
    Costs and expenses:
      Home construction and
       land sales                  720,661    495,451   2,112,414   1,444,215
      Interest                      14,176     10,520      43,001      33,235
      Selling, general and
       administrative expense      105,394     72,756     292,584     205,498
    Operating income                64,100     38,278     193,174     122,229
    Other income                     3,103        812       8,885       1,721

    Income before income taxes
     and extraordinary item         67,203     39,090     202,059     123,950
    Income taxes                    26,545     15,245      79,425      48,341
    Net income before
     extraordinary item             40,658     23,845     122,634      75,609
    Extraordinary item-loss
     on early extinguishment of
     debt (net of taxes of $469)       ---        ---         ---       (733)
    Net income                    $ 40,658    $23,845    $122,634     $74,876


    Basic:
      Net income per share before
       extraordinary item            $3.21     $ 2.90      $11.64       $9.28
      Extraordinary item               ---        ---         ---      (0.09)
      Net income per common share    $3.21     $ 2.90      $11.64       $9.19

    Diluted:
      Net income per share before
       extraordinary item            $3.03     $ 2.56     $ 10.74       $8.26
      Extraordinary item               ---        ---         ---      (0.08)
      Net income per common share    $3.03     $ 2.56     $ 10.74       $8.18

    Weighted average shares
     outstanding, in thousands:
      Basic                         12,647      8,224      10,535       8,145
      Diluted                       13,407      9,313      11,415       9,156

    Interest incurred             $ 16,653     $9,247     $51,171     $35,825
    Depreciation and amortization   $3,131     $3,082     $ 9,453     $ 9,253


     SELECTED BALANCE SHEET DATA                          September 30,
                                                      2002            2001
    Cash                                            $124,989        $41,678
    Inventory                                      1,364,133        844,737
    Total assets                                   1,892,847        995,289
    Total debt                                       739,100        395,238
    Shareholders' equity                             799,515        351,195


                            Beazer Homes USA, INC.
                  Consolidated Operating and Financial Data
                            (Dollars in thousands)
                                 (Continued)

    OPERATING DATA
                                           Quarter Ended         Year Ended
                                            September 30,       September 30,
    SELECTED OPERATING DATA                2002      2001      2002      2001
    Closings:
      Southeast region                    1,719     1,183     4,575     3,414
      West region                         1,272     1,089     4,442     3,412
      Central region                        331       336     1,121       897
      Mid-Atlantic region                   324       459     1,412     1,336
      Midwest region                      1,193       ---     2,053       ---
    Total closings                        4,839     3,067    13,603     9,059

    New orders, net of cancellations:
      Southeast region                    1,185       856     4,623     3,770
      West region                         1,175       867     4,669     3,810
      Central region                        327       285     1,244     1,022
      Mid-Atlantic region                   263       332     1,365     1,437
      Midwest region                        781       ---     1,709       ---
    Total new orders                      3,731     2,340    13,610    10,039
    Backlog at end of period              6,519     3,977
    Dollar value of backlog at end
     of period                      $ 1,293,290  $775,612
    Active subdivisions:
      Southeast region                      188       124
      West region                            73        86
      Central region                         34        31
      Mid-Atlantic region                    35        40
      Midwest region                        138       ---
    Total active subdivisions               468       281




                            Beazer Homes USA, INC.
                  Consolidated Operating and Financial Data
                            (Dollars in thousands)
                                 (Continued)

    SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL DATA    Quarter Ended              Year Ended
                                    September 30,            September 30,
                                  2002         2001        2002        2001
    Revenues:
      Home sales                $885,548    $608,027  $ 2,594,910 $ 1,769,069
      Land and lot sales           8,422       2,541       18,051      18,017
      Mortgage origination
       revenue                    14,689       9,272       41,006      26,572
      Intercompany elimination
       - mortgage                (4,328)     (2,835)     (12,794)     (8,481)
    Total revenues              $904,331    $617,005  $ 2,641,173 $ 1,805,177

    Cost of home construction
     and land sales:
      Homes sales               $717,347    $495,781  $ 2,109,756 $ 1,438,101
      Land and lot sales           7,642       2,505       15,452      14,595
      Intercompany elimination
       - mortgage                (4,328)     (2,835)     (12,794)     (8,481)
    Total costs of home
     construction and
     land sales                 $720,661    $495,451  $ 2,112,414 $ 1,444,215

    Selling, general
     and administrative:
      Homebuilding operations    $97,316     $67,469     $269,655    $190,551
      Mortgage origination
       operations                  8,078       5,287       22,929      14,947
    Total selling, general
     and administrative         $105,394     $72,756     $292,584    $205,498


                     

SOURCE Beazer Homes USA, Inc.

/CONTACT: David S. Weiss, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer of Beazer Homes USA, +1-404-250-3420, or dweiss@beazer.com/