|
Toll Brothers Reiterates Continued Strong Demand For
Luxury Homes
Confirms Las Vegas Activity Remains Very Healthy; Believes Record Results
Are Ahead In FY 2004, FY 2005 And FY 2006
HUNTINGDON VALLEY, Pa., Oct 05, 2004 (PRIMEZONE via COMTEX) -- Toll
Brothers, Inc. (TOL)
(www.tollbrothers.com). In
anticipation of an investor site tour to be hosted by company
representatives this week in Las Vegas and several scheduled presentations
in the coming weeks, Robert I. Toll, chairman and chief executive officer of
Toll Brothers, Inc., the nation's leading builder of luxury homes, today
commented on the Company's activity through the end of September, 2004 and
its outlook for the future.
Robert I. Toll, stated: "Through nine months of fiscal 2004, our record
contracts are up 67%, our record backlog is up 75%, our record revenues are
up 30%, and our record net income is up 37% over the same period in FY 2003,
which was then a record. We expect that 2004's fourth quarter results will
be records as well.
"Ten weeks into our fourth quarter, which began August 1, 2004, non-binding
reservation deposits, a precursor to contracts and revenues, have been the
highest or second highest per-community (same store) in nine of those ten
weeks dating back to 1987. With a community count now at a record 215
compared to last year's 186, we are benefiting from more communities as well
as strong deposits per community.
"With supply constricted due to governmental regulation and no-growth
politics and demand spurred by increasing numbers of affluent households and
maturing baby boomers entering their peak earning years, buyer appetite for
luxury homes should remain strong for the foreseeable future. Based on the
strength of current demand and our record third quarter-end backlog, which
affords revenue visibility over the next nine to twelve months, we believe
we'll achieve at least 30% net income growth in FY 2005. Since we expect to
reach approximately 235 selling communities by FYE 2005, compared to 215 at
FYE 2004, we believe that 20% revenue and net income growth should be
achieved in FY 2006.
"Recent attention has focused on the Las Vegas market. We noted continued
strength in Las Vegas on our earnings call of August 26, 2004, and we
continue to enjoy pricing power at our communities today. As discussed then,
we believed the market had stabilized in the spring of 2004, as buyers had
become more discriminating in the face of rapid price increases earlier in
the year. We thought it was positive that the market had stabilized and was
in better balance with sales being driven by fundamental demand rather than
speculative interest.
"We had protected ourselves against this speculation by instituting, in
early 2003, anti-speculation clauses in our sales contracts to discourage
this activity in our communities. Further, as in our other markets, we
receive non-refundable down payments averaging about 7% of the home purchase
price from our buyers when they sign contracts and before we start to build
their homes. Therefore, cancellation rates in Las Vegas in 2004 of about 5%
have been consistent with Company averages in our other markets over the
past several years.
"We project revenues of about $190 million in our Nevada region in FY 2004,
which represent about 5% of our total revenues and a 40% increase from FY
2003. We have introduced a diversity of product lines and are enjoying
strong demand from both move-up and empty-nester buyers across a variety of
price points.
"We believe Las Vegas is a land-constrained market: Demand outweighs supply.
This environment was a major reason for us to join with seven other builders
in a consortium created to bid on a 1,940 acre parcel in metro Las Vegas
being auctioned off by the Nevada Bureau of Land Management in June 2004.
The consortium was the winning bidder on the property and, we believe, is
making a very attractive land purchase in an established market that has
become one of the major residential success stories of the past two
decades."
Toll Brothers, Inc. is the nation's leading builder of luxury homes. The
Company began business in 1967 and became a public company in 1986. Its
common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange and the Pacific
Exchange under the symbol "TOL". The Company serves move-up, empty-nester,
active-adult and second-home home buyers and operates in 21 states: Arizona,
California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Illinois,
Massachusetts, Maryland, Michigan, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New
York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina,
Texas, and Virginia.
Toll Brothers builds luxury single-family and attached home communities,
master-planned luxury residential resort-style golf communities and urban
low, mid- and high-rise communities, principally on land it develops and
improves. The Company operates its own architectural, engineering, mortgage,
title, land development and land sale, golf course development and
management, home security, landscape, cable T.V. and broadband Internet
delivery subsidiaries. The Company also operates its own lumber
distribution, and house component assembly and manufacturing operations.
Toll Brothers is the only publicly traded national home building company to
have won all three of the industry's highest honors: America's Best Builder
from the National Association of Home Builders, the National Housing Quality
Award and Builder of the Year. For more information visit
www.tollbrothers.com.
Certain information included herein and in other Company
reports, SEC filings, statements and presentations is forward-looking within
the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995,
including, but not limited to, statements concerning anticipated operating
results, financial resources, changes in revenues, changes in profitability,
interest expense, growth and expansion, anticipated income from joint
ventures and the Toll Brothers Realty Trusts Group, the ability to acquire
land, the ability to secure governmental approvals and the ability to open
new communities, the ability to sell homes and properties, the ability to
deliver homes from backlog, the average delivered price of homes, the
ability to secure materials and subcontractors, the ability to maintain the
liquidity and capital necessary to expand and take advantage of future
opportunities, and stock market valuations. Such forward-looking information
involves important risks and uncertainties that could significantly affect
actual results and cause them to differ materially from expectations
expressed herein and in other Company reports, SEC filings, statements and
presentations. These risks and uncertainties include local, regional and
national economic conditions, the demand for homes, domestic and
international political events, uncertainties created by terrorist attacks,
the effects of governmental regulation, the competitive environment in which
the Company operates, fluctuations in interest rates, changes in home
prices, the availability and cost of land for future growth, the
availability of capital, uncertainties and fluctuations in capital and
securities markets, changes in tax laws and their interpretation, legal
proceedings, the availability of adequate insurance at reasonable cost, the
ability of customers to finance the purchase of homes, the availability and
cost of labor and materials, and weather conditions.
SOURCE: Toll Brothers, Inc.
|
|
