Horsham, PA, August 25—-Homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. reported quarterly profit doubled as the U.S. home market remained strong.
For the fiscal third quarter ended July 31, Toll said it earned $215.5 million, or $1.27 per share, compared with $106.0 million, or 66 cents per share in the year-earlier quarter.
Revenue grew 54 percent to $1.56 billion in the quarter, it said. Analysts on average had expected the company to earn $1.19 per share, on revenue of $1.53 billion, according to Reuters Estimates.
Looking ahead, Toll Brothers said it expects to deliver 10,200 to 10,600 homes in fiscal 2006 at an average price of $665,000, which would translate to revenue for the year in the range $6.78 billion to $7.05 billion.
Toll said it closed on 2,310 homes during the quarter, up 55 percent. The value of the homes grew 19 percent to $1.54 billion from $991.3 million in the same quarter last year.
The earnings and revenue reflect homes contracted for up to a year earlier.
Toll said new orders during the quarter rose to 2,746 homes from 2,329 in last year's third quarter, while the value of the homes rose 19 percent to $1.92 billion.
Toll ended the quarter with a backlog of 9,490 homes under contract and awaiting construction, up from 6,856 in the year-earlier quarter. The value of the backlog rose 48 percent to $6.43 billion.
