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Beazer Homes Reports Record Earnings:

November 5, 2003 at 7:09 AM EST

Fourth Quarter Diluted EPS of $4.18 Up 38%;

Fiscal 2003 Diluted EPS of $12.78 Up 19%

Board of Directors Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.10 per Share; Company Also Announces Strengthened Brand and Strategic Growth Initiatives

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, 2003, reporting record earnings. The Company also announced that its Board of Directors has declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per common share. In addition, the Company released information about its new branding initiative and provided details regarding strategic growth initiatives. Highlights of the quarter and year, compared to the same periods of the prior year, are as follows:

    Quarter Ended September 30, 2003
     - Record diluted EPS: $4.18 (up 38% vs. $3.03 in prior year)
     - Record home closings: 5,014 (up 4%)
     - Record total revenues: $1.0 billion (up 15%)
     - Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
       (EBITDA): $115.4 million (up 37%)
     - EBITDA margin: 11.1% (up 180 basis points)
     - Record net income: $57.2 million (up 41%)
     - Record September quarter new orders: 3,862 (up 4%)

    Year Ended September 30, 2003
     - Record diluted EPS: $12.78 (up 19% vs. $10.74 in prior year)
     - Record home closings: 15,409 (up 13%)
     - Record total revenues: $3.2 billion (up 20%)
     - Earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization
       (EBITDA): $354.2 million (up 39%)
     - EBITDA margin: 11.1% (up 150 basis points)
     - Record net income: $172.7 million (up 41%)
     - Record new orders: 16,316 (up 20%)

    Record Year-End Backlog
     - Record year-end backlog: 7,426 homes (up 14%), sales value $1.6 billion
       (up 27%)

    Record Earnings for September Quarter and Fiscal Year

"Beazer Homes ends the year with a strong finish, surpassing numerous milestones," said President and Chief Executive Officer Ian J. McCarthy. "For the first time we generated annual revenues in excess of $3 billion and the fourth quarter marked our first-ever $1 billion revenue quarter. This was accompanied by significant increases in earnings, illustrating our ongoing commitment to achieving profitable growth by leveraging our size, scale and

geographic reach, as well as executing specific growth and profitability initiatives."

"Beazer Homes' year-end backlog now stands at 7,426 homes with a sales value of $1.6 billion, up 14% and 27%, respectively from the backlog homes and sales value at September 30, 2002. This sizable year-end backlog increase provides excellent visibility for another strong performance during fiscal 2004," added McCarthy.

Strong Financial Position; Profit Margin Expansion in Fiscal 2003

"We continued to strengthen Beazer Homes' financial position during fiscal 2003," said James O'Leary, Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. "Interest coverage (EBITDA divided by interest incurred) increased from 5.0x to 5.4x, and at year-end, debt to total capitalization improved to 43% from 48% at September 30, 2002. Net debt to total capitalization now stands at 40%, including $73.4 million of cash on the balance sheet. Furthermore, we achieved significant profit margin improvement and expect recently introduced profit improvement initiatives to yield further increases to our margins in the future."

During the fourth quarter and fiscal 2003, the Company increased its EBITDA margin by 180 and 150 basis points, respectively. This improvement reflects strong industry fundamentals and greater emphasis on focused profit improvement initiatives. These gains were achieved despite higher warranty expenses associated with construction defect claims from water intrusion in the Midwest and inventory write-downs in the Southeast.

Board of Directors Declares Quarterly Dividend

The Company also announced its intention to begin paying a quarterly cash dividend. The Board of Directors on November 4, 2003 declared an initial quarterly cash dividend of $0.10 per common share payable December 22, 2003 to shareholders of record at the close of business on December 10, 2003. "The decision by the Board to institute a quarterly dividend reflects its continued confidence in the Company's prospects for the future to both invest in the Company's growth and to allocate capital to dividends for our shareholders," said McCarthy.

Branding and Strategic Growth Initiatives

The Company also announced a new branding initiative. "On October 15, Beazer Homes began rolling out a strengthened brand identity which is the result of more than two years of work aimed at building a unified consumer brand across all regions in which we operate," said McCarthy. "Beazer Homes becomes a more dynamic force when we present ourselves as one company with one name, one logo, one message and one purpose."

"This undertaking is about much more than a universal name and a new look," McCarthy continued. "The homebuilding industry continues to undergo change and rapid consolidation with large public builders poised to capitalize on sustainable competitive advantages." To benefit from these trends and achieve its growth potential, Beazer Homes will differentiate itself through qualities that lead to good recommendations, referrals to family and friends, and repeat purchases by loyal customers. "While our brand strategy has many components," said McCarthy, "the customer is the constant focus. A strengthened, national brand identity positions us to consistently address the needs of our customers across all of our markets."

"Beazer Homes has grown both organically and through acquisition, establishing one of the most diversified geographic footprints in the industry," added McCarthy. "Significant opportunity exists to build on the strengths Beazer Homes has established in terms of size, experience, capabilities and talent. Moving forward, we will focus on consistently achieving sustainable and profitable growth. We will accomplish this through strategic growth initiatives that leverage our national brand, capitalize on our broad geographic profile through focused product expansion and price-point diversification, as well as drive best practices to achieve optimal efficiencies. All of these efforts are designed to deliver maximum value to our customers, and in turn, to our shareholders."

Beazer Homes Targets EPS Growth of 10-15% in Fiscal 2004

"Our strong backlog coupled with our expectations of continued strength in the housing market provide us confidence in our future growth opportunities," said McCarthy. "We believe strong demographic trends combined with constraints on housing supply will continue to drive earnings growth for large public homebuilders, such as Beazer Homes. In addition, our strategic growth priorities, as outlined above, will place us in a strong position for continued success. As such, we expect to generate diluted earnings per share in the range of $14.00 - $14.75 in fiscal 2004, representing approximately 10-15% growth over fiscal 2003."

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, 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.

Notes

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, 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, 2002.

Non-GAAP Financial Measures:

EBITDA is not a generally accepted accounting principle (GAAP) financial measure. EBITDA is calculated by adding to net income the provision for income tax, depreciation, amortization and interest. EBITDA should not be considered an alternative to net income determined in accordance with GAAP as an indicator of operating performance. Because some analysts and companies may not calculate EBITDA in the same manner as Beazer, the EBITDA information presented above may not be comparable to similar presentations by others. Beazer's management believes that EBITDA reflects the changes in the Company's operating results, particularly changes in the Company's net income, and believes it to be an effective measure of operating performance. A reconciliation of EBITDA to net income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, is provided below:


                                                          Quarter Ended
                                                          September 30,
                                                     2003               2002
     Reconciliation of Net Income to
      EBITDA
     Net Income                                     $57,164            $40,658
     Add:
        Income taxes                                 37,321             26,545
        Interest                                     17,302             14,176
        Depreciation and amortization                 3,623              3,131
     EBITDA                                        $115,410            $84,510

                                                            Year Ended
                                                           September 30,
                                                      2003               2002
     Reconciliation of Net Income to
      EBITDA
     Net Income                                    $172,745           $122,634
     Add:
        Income taxes                                112,784             79,425
        Interest                                     55,451             43,001
        Depreciation and amortization                13,220              9,453
     EBITDA                                        $354,200           $254,513

     Interest Incurred                              $65,295            $51,171

     Interest Coverage                                 5.4x               5.0x


                              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,
                                    2003        2002       2003        2002
    INCOME STATEMENT
    Revenues                    $1,039,923   $904,331  $3,177,408  $2,641,173
    Costs and expenses:
       Home construction and
        land sales                 812,681    720,661   2,478,584   2,112,414
       Interest                     17,302     14,176      55,451      43,001
       Selling, general and
        administrative expense     117,306    105,394     356,648     292,584
       Expenses related to
        early retirement of
        debt                             0          0       7,570           0
    Operating income                92,634     64,100     279,155     193,174
    Other income                     1,851      3,103       6,374       8,885

    Income before income taxes      94,485     67,203     285,529     202,059
    Income taxes                    37,321     26,545     112,784      79,425
    Net income                     $57,164    $40,658    $172,745    $122,634

    Net income per common
     share:
       Basic                         $4.38      $3.21      $13.41      $11.64
       Diluted                       $4.18      $3.03      $12.78      $10.74

    Weighted average shares
     outstanding, in thousands:
       Basic                        13,060     12,647      12,886      10,535
       Diluted                      13,679     13,407      13,514      11,415

    Interest incurred              $15,677    $16,653     $65,295     $51,171
    Depreciation and
     amortization                   $3,623     $3,131     $13,220      $9,453


    SELECTED BALANCE SHEET DATA     September 30,
                                     2003      2002
    Cash                           $73,372   $124,989
    Inventory                    1,723,483  1,364,133
    Total assets                 2,212,034  1,892,847
    Total debt                     741,365    739,100
    Shareholders' equity           993,695    799,515


                              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                  2003        2002    2003    2002
    Closings:
       Southeast region                     1,770       1,719   5,160   4,575
       West region                          1,379       1,272   4,688   4,442
       Central region                         405         331   1,239   1,121
       Mid-Atlantic region                    449         324   1,238   1,412
       Midwest region                       1,011       1,193   3,084   2,053
    Total closings                          5,014       4,839  15,409  13,603
    New orders, net of cancellations:
       Southeast region                     1,298       1,185   5,614   4,623
       West region                          1,452       1,175   5,142   4,669
       Central region                         268         327   1,128   1,244
       Mid-Atlantic region                    273         263   1,655   1,365
       Midwest region                         571         781   2,777   1,709
    Total new orders                        3,862       3,731  16,316  13,610
    Backlog at end of period                7,426       6,519
    Dollar value of backlog at end of
     period                            $1,644,814  $1,293,290
    Active subdivisions:
       Southeast region                       178         188
       West region                             97          73
       Central region                          39          34
       Mid-Atlantic region                     40          35
       Midwest region                         140         138
    Total active subdivisions                 494         468


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

                                      Quarter Ended            Year Ended
                                      September 30,          September 30,
    SUPPLEMENTAL FINANCIAL DATA:      2003      2002        2003        2002

    Revenues
      Home sales                 $1,007,416  $885,548  $3,097,021  $2,594,910
      Land and lot sales             19,266     8,422      39,069      18,051
      Mortgage origination
       revenue                       16,801    14,689      57,152      41,006
      Intercompany elimination -
       mortgage                      (3,560)   (4,328)    (15,834)    (12,794)
    Total revenues               $1,039,923  $904,331  $3,177,408  $2,641,173
    Cost of home construction
     and land sales
      Home sales                   $797,959  $717,347  $2,459,564  $2,109,756
      Land and lot sales             18,282     7,642      34,854      15,452
      Intercompany elimination -
       mortgage                      (3,560)   (4,328)    (15,834)    (12,794)
    Total costs of home
     construction and land sales   $812,681  $720,661  $2,478,584  $2,112,414
    Selling, general and
     administrative
      Homebuilding operations      $107,785   $97,316    $325,657    $269,655
      Mortgage origination
       operations                     9,521     8,078      30,991      22,929
    Total selling, general and
     administrative                $117,306  $105,394    $356,648    $292,584
SOURCE  Beazer Homes USA, Inc.
CONTACT: Leslie H. Kratcoski, Director, Investor Relations of Beazer
Homes USA, Inc., +1-770-829-3700, or email, lkratcos@beazer.com