Centex Corp. said Tuesday it narrowed its loss in the fiscal third-quarter, but the homebuilder saw revenue and new home orders decline sharply as the housing downturn deepened.
The Dallas-based company lost $663.9 million, or $5.34 a share, in the three months ended Dec. 31. That compares with a loss of $975.2 million, or $7.94 a share, in the same period a year ago. It was the company's seventh consecutive quarterly loss.
Revenue dropped 53 percent to $872.2 million.
The latest quarter included a $590 million in impairments and land-related charges.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a loss, excluding one-time charges and gains, of $3.27 a share on revenue of about $895.3 million.
In a statement, Chief Executive Timothy Eller noted that sales during the quarter suffered as the worsening U.S. economy gave many would-be buyers pause.
Still, the company ended the quarter with $1.47 billion in cash and expects to be cash-positive into the next fiscal year, Eller said.
Centex's shares fell 23 cents, or almost 3 percent, to $8.95 in aftermarket trading following the release of the earnings. In the regular session, the stock added 86 cents, or 10 percent, to $9.18.
Like other builders, Centex has been focused on bolstering its balance sheet and returning to profitability. The company has cut overhead costs and slashed land and development spending.
"We continued to move with urgency to reduce our cost structure, accelerating overhead reductions and further reducing land-related spending," Eller noted.
But drumming up sales remains daunting in the midst of the lingering housing malaise, rising unemployment and growing economic worries among prospective homebuyers.
The builder said new home orders for the three months ended Dec. 31 plunged to 1,080, down 80 percent from a year ago. Completed sales were cut in half to 3,405 homes, and its backlog of orders fell by 46 percent to 4,628 homes.
The company's financial services arm posted an operating loss of $14 million during the quarter, an improvement over a loss of $60 million a year ago.
For the first nine months of fiscal 2009, Centex posted a net loss of $985.9 million, or $7.93 a share. This compared with a loss of $1.75 billion, or $14.30 a share, for the same period a year ago.
Total revenues fell 50 percent to $3 billion.
Earlier Tuesday, Fort Worth, Texas-based rival, D.R. Horton Inc., said it lost $62.6 million, or 20 cents a share, in the three months ended Dec. 31. That was far better than the loss of $128.8 million, or 41 cents a share, a year earlier.
___
On the Net:
Centex Corp.: http://www.centex.com
