Reports Q1 (Jan) loss of $0.55 per share, includes pre-tax write-downs totaling $156.6 mln, $0.02 worse than the First Call consensus of ($0.53); revenues fell 51.4% year/year to $409 mln vs the $425.3 mln consensus.
Joel H. Rassman, CFO, stated: "Given the numerous uncertainties related to sales paces, sales prices, mortgage markets, cancellations, market direction and the potential for and size of future impairments, it is particularly difficult in the current climate to provide guidance for the rest of FY 2009.
As a result, we will not provide earnings guidance at this time. However, subject to the caveats above and those contained in our Statement on Forward-Looking Information included in this release and in our other public filings, we offer the following limited guidance.
"Based on FY 2009's first-quarter-end backlog of $1.04 billion and the pace of activity at our communities, we currently estimate that we will deliver between 2,000 and 3,000 homes in FY 2009 at an average delivered price of between $600,000 and $625,000 per home.
We believe that, as a result of continuing incentives and slower sales paces per community, our cost of sales as a percentage of revenues, before taking into account write-downs, will be higher in FY 2009 than in FY 2008.
Based on FY 2009's lower projected revenues, we expect our SG&A expenses, exclusive of interest, to be lower in absolute dollar terms in FY 2009 than in FY 2008; however, we expect it will be higher as a percentage of revenues in FY 2009 than in FY 2008."
In FY09, Q1-end backlog of approx $1.04 bln (1,647 units) decreased 56% from FY08's Q1-end backlog of $2.40 bln (3,341 units).