Deliveries down but orders up at KB Home

Los Angeles-based home builder KB Home reported revenues of $367.3 million for its third fiscal quarter, down 27% from $50 million in the third quarter of 2010.

The decrease was mainly due to a 31% year-over-year decrease in the number of homes delivered to 1,603, the company said, which was partly offset by a 6% year-over-year increase in the average selling price to $227,400.

The company reported a net loss of $9.6 million for the quarter, which ended Aug. 31, compared with a net loss of $1.4 million for the same quarter a year ago. The 2011 third quarter net loss included $1.2 million of noncash charges for inventory impairments and land-option contract abandonments, compared with $3.4 million of similar charges in the year-earlier quarter.

Net orders at KB Home increased 40% to 1,838 in the third quarter of 2011 from 1,314 in the corresponding period of 2010. By Aug. 31, the company had 2,657 homes in backlog, compared with a backlog of 2,169 homes by Aug. 31, 2010.

"We achieved encouraging operational and financial results in the third quarter despite the ongoing difficult housing environment," said Jeffrey Mezger, president and CEO. "We generated year-over-year growth in both net orders and backlog in all four of our operating regions. We also improved our bottom-line results by narrowing our net loss substantially from the second quarter.

"Our strategic actions over the past several quarters of investing in attractive land positions, opening new communities, and reducing construction and overhead costs are yielding measurable results," Mezger continued. "We remain carefully focused on extending and sustaining the positive sequential trends we have established, and ending the year with a strong fourth quarter, giving us momentum as we enter 2012."