Toll Brothers Narrows Loss in First Quarter

Horsham, PA, March 4, 2009-- Luxury home builder Toll Brothers reported a first quarter net loss of $88.9 million, or $0.55 per share, which included pre-tax write-downs totaling $156.6 million.

This compared to a net loss of $96.0 million, or $0.61 per share a year ago.

Excluding write-downs, first quarter earnings were $9.6 million ($9.55 million of which resulted from the net reversal of a prior tax provision), or $0.06 per share, compared to $57.3 million, or $0.35 per share in 2008.

Revenues were $409.0 million, backlog was $1.04 billion and net (after cancellations) signed contracts were $127.8 million. These totals represented declines of 51%, 56%, and 66%, respectively, in dollars, and 45%, 51% and 59%, respectively, in units, compared to last year.

"Faced with a plunging stock market, weak consumer confidence, growing job losses, challenging credit markets and a hobbled economy, we continue to focus on maintaining a strong balance sheet and significant liquidity,' said CEO Robert Toll.

"We believe there are buyers on the fence. Our recent 3.99% mortgage promotion had a dramatic effect on our website activity; visitors to our mortgage company website grew from 84 a day to 1,617 a day. However, we believe weak buyer confidence still impedes the market. We have not yet seen a pick-up in activity at our communities other than ordinary seasonal increases for this time of year."