Calabasas, CA, July 23--Homebuilder Ryland Group Inc. reported second quarter earnings were up 41.6 percent on higher home orders and margins.
For the three months ended June 30, Ryland posted profits of $76.5 million, or $3.03 per share, compared to $54 million, or $2.03 cents a share in the year-ago period.
The results beat analysts' predictions for earnings of $2.52 a share, according to Thomson First Call.
The company's second-quarter revenues rose 9.4 percent to $918.5 million over the same quarter last year, including homebuilding revenues of $899.3 million, up 10.2 percent.
The company attributes this increase to an 11.7 percent rise in home prices to $249,000, and to margins from home sales, which widened to 24.7 percent from the 21.8 percent for the same period last year.
New home orders were up 2.2 percent to 4,761 and the company ended the quarter with a backlog of 9,004 homes waiting to be built, a 17 percent increase from the second quarter of 2003. Backlog is valued at $2.4 billion - up 35.8 percent from a year ago.
For the fiscal year ending Dec. 31, Ryland expects earnings to exceed $12 per share, up from its previous forecast for earnings of $11.
Thomson First Call analysts predict earnings of $11.32.
