Hovnanian Posts Large Quarterly Loss

Red Bank, NJ, Dec. 17, 2008--Home builder Hovnanian Enterprises posted a quarterly loss on Tuesday.

Hovnanian said fiscal fourth-quarter after-tax losses available to common stockholders were $450.5 million, or $5.79 per common share, compared with a net loss of $469.3 million, or $7.42 per common share, a year earlier.

Analysts had forecast a loss of $1.67 a share, on average.

Revenue dropped 48% to $721.4 million in the latest fiscal quarter, Hovnanian also reported.

The backlog of contracts at the end of October, excluding unconsolidated joint ventures, was 1,907 homes with a sales value of $646.2 million, down 68% from a year ago, Hovnanian said.

"Since mid-September, the housing market has deteriorated in lock-step with the widening financial crisis and declines in broader economic conditions," Ara Hovnanian, chief executive, of the homebuilder, said in a statement.

"The housing industry typically leads the U.S. economy into and out of recessions. It is important that a housing stimulus package is passed in order for a turnaround to occur in housing and the U.S. economy overall," he continued.