Miami, FL, January 2, 2007--Homebuilder Lennar Corp. said it anticipates posting a fourth-quarter loss on a tough market and land charges.
The company said it expects to post a loss between 88 cents and $1.28 a share for its fiscal fourth quarter ended November 30 due to land charges.
It anticipates quarterly charges in the range of $400 million to $500 million as a result of real estate valuation adjustments and land options it's walking away from. Without the charges, Lennar forecast earnings of 70 cents to 75 cents a share.
In September, the company lowered its fourth-quarter outlook to a range of $1 to $1.30 a share.
Lennar said it delivered 14,006 homes in the fourth quarter, compared with 14,403 homes in the year-ago period. New orders for the quarter fell 6% to 9,606 homes.
The company said although deliveries increased in 2006, it saw "materially lower" gross margins on home sales "as a result of deteriorating market conditions in the home-building industry."
"Market conditions continued to weaken throughout the fourth quarter and we have not yet seen tangible evidence of a market recovery," said Miller, the CEO.
"While we are hopeful that low interest rates, strong employment and a healthy economy will help stimulate a recovery in 2007, we have continued to focus on strengthening our balance sheet by delivering our backlog, selling inventory aggressively and renegotiating our land positions," he added.
The company is scheduled to release full quarterly and year-end results on January 17.
