Lennar reports loss for Q4 and year

Home builder Lennar reported a fourth-quarter net loss of $811.0 million, compared to a net loss of $1.3 billion in the year-ago period. For the year ended Nov. 30, 2008, the net loss was $1.1 billion, compared to a net loss of $1.9 billion in 2007.

Revenues for the fourth quarter totaled $1.3 billion, down 41 percent from $2.2 billion. Revenues for the 2008 fiscal year were $4.6 billion, down 55 percent from $10.2 billion.

"In 2009, cash generation will continue to be our top priority,” said Stuart Miller, Lennar president and CEO. “We will convert inventory to cash and reduce both our land purchases and home-building starts. In addition, we will reduce our cash outflows by continuing to right-size our overhead to improve our S,G&A percentage."

The fourth-quarter revenue decrease was due to a 34 percent decrease in the number of home deliveries and a 10 percent decrease in the average sales price of homes delivered. Revenues from home sales for the 2008 fiscal year decreased 56 percent to $4.2 billion from $9.5 billion in 2007. The number of home deliveries decreased 51 percent and the average sales price of homes delivered in 2008 decreased 9 percent.