Toll Brothers swings to loss in third quarter
EARNINGS ROUNDUP
The luxury builder's CEO predicts a turnaround -- after the foreclosure inventory is sold.
Toll Bros. Inc. said Thursday that it swung to a loss in its fiscal third quarter as weak demand for new homes forced the luxury builder to mark down the value of its land and unsold homes.
But Chief Executive Robert Toll is seeing signs the market is stabilizing: The company had the lowest contract cancellation rate in more than two years, and more buyers are putting down deposits, he said.
"We believe that there is pent-up demand," Toll said in a statement but added that the housing market wouldn't begin to recover until the trove of foreclosed homes on the market are sold.
"Unfortunately, we can't predict when that will occur," he said.
The Horsham, Pa.-based builder lost $29.3 million, or 18 cents a share, in the three months that ended July 31. That's a reversal from a profit of $26.5 million, or 16 cents, a year earlier.
Toll absorbed $84.3 million in after-tax write-downs in the quarter. Excluding the charges, earnings were $55 million, or 35 cents a share, and in line with Wall Street estimates.
Quarterly revenue fell 34% to $797.7 million as revenue from completed contracts declined.
Toll's shares rose 27 cents, or 1.1%, to $25.07 after the earnings news.
Quiksilver falls short of forecasts
Quiksilver Inc.'s profit missed analysts' expectations for the quarter, and the surf-wear retailer said its performance was hurt by increased costs and a weak economic environment.
The company reported net income of $2.9 million, or 2 cents per share. That contrasted with a loss of $7.9 million, or 6 cents, a year earlier.
Profit from continuing operations dropped 7.4% to $33.1 million, or 25 cents per share, from $35.7 million, or 28 cents, a year earlier. Revenue from continuing operations increased 7% to $564.9 million.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to earn 21 cents a share on revenue of $543.9 million.
The company recently announced that it had received an offer to purchase its Rossignol ski business and expects to close the transaction in the fall.
Shares of the company fell more than 4% to $7.19 before the earnings news. In after-hours trading, the stock surged 91 cents, or 13%, to $8.10.
Take-Two profit tops expectations
Take-Two Interactive Software Inc., the video game publisher in acquisition talks with Electronic Arts Inc., reported a third-quarter profit that exceeded analysts' projections on sales of Grand Theft Auto IV.
