INDUSTRY NEWS

Toll Brothers Reports $40.8 Million Loss in First Quarter, But Contracts Up

02/28/2010

HORSHAM, PA -- Toll Brothers, Inc., the nation's leading builder of luxury homes, said it lost $40.8 million in the first quarter, which included a $33.4 million write down. The homebuilder generated $326.7 million in revenue during the period, and delivered 596 homes. For the quarter, the company said it signed contracts for 526 units, valued at $292.1 million--reflecting a 129% increase over last year.

Robert I. Toll, chairman and chief executive officer, stated: "A year ago at this time we feared for the stability of the nation's economic system. That worry seems to be behind us. The housing market took several years to recover following the downturn of the late 1980's and early 1990's. We expect this recovery to follow a similar pattern. We believe the housing market is still in choppy waters but the seas are getting calmer.

"This quarter's total net signed contracts were up significantly compared to 2009's first quarter, but last year's results were posted in the midst of the financial crisis. Our per-community net signed contracts exceeded both 2009's and 2008's first-quarter per-community average; however, our results were approximately half the average of all previous first quarters dating back to 1990.

"The U.S. housing market is really many local housing markets: We expect the housing recovery to occur region by region. The unevenness in demand we have observed since Labor Day, impacted recently by the miserable weather, has made it hard to discern the pace of recovery. However, we have seen some improvement in the last four weeks, and more so in the last week."