Luxury builder Toll Bros. revenue falls 41%
Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. said Tuesday fourth-quarter home building revenue dropped 41% as the financial crisis exacerbated ongoing weakness in the housing market.
Toll said preliminary home-building revenue declined to $691 million from $1.17 billion, while backlog slipped 54% to $1.33 billion from $2.85 billion.
Net signed contracts for the quarter also slid 27 percent to $266.7 million from $365.3 million.
For the fiscal year ended Oct. 31, home-building revenue declined 32% to $3.15 billion, and net signed contracts declined 47% to $1.61 billion.
Toll (TOL, Fortune 500) ended the fiscal year with $1.63 billion in cash and believes this liquidity can help the company weather turmoil in the industry.
Chief Executive Robert I. Toll said the preliminary signs of stability in the market discussed by the company in early September were reversed by the financial crisis cash advance loans. At that time, Toll said there were signs of a stabilizing market, as Toll had the lowest contract cancellation rate in more than two years, and more buyers were putting down deposits.
But on Tuesday, Toll said accelerating fears of job losses and a large decline in consumer spending, among other factors, contributed to drive cancellations up to 233 units and drive home buyer confidence and the company’s traffic and demand down to record lows.
Toll Brothers will release full results on Dec. 4.
Filed under: technology by Forest