Lennar Loss Widens, Homebuilder Sees 2010 Profit

Miami, FL, Sept. 21, 2009–Homebuilder Lennar Corp. said Monday that its fiscal third-quarter net loss widened to $171.6 million, or $0.97 a share, from $89 million, or $0.56 a share, a year earlier.

Revenue for the quarter ended Aug. 31 dropped 35% to $720.7 million. Revenues from home sales decreased 36% in the third quarter of 2009 to $635.3 million from $995.7 million in 2008.

Analysts had been expecting a loss $0.52 a share on revenue of $734.4 million.

Lennar said the drop in revenue reflected a 28% drop in the number of sales and a 12% fall in the average selling price.

It added that adjusted gross margin fell 2.4 percentage points compared to a year earlier, but was up 1.6 percentage points from the second quarter. Lennar said that, assuming the economy continues to stabilize, it expects to return to profit in fiscal 2010.