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 /