Meritage Homes reports preliminary home closings, orders, and backlog for the third quarter of 2017
October 03 2017 - 8:13AM
Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH), a leading U.S. homebuilder,
reported its preliminary home orders, closings and backlog for the
third quarter ended September 30, 2017.
Home closings increased approximately 9% to 1,969 in the third
quarter of 2017 from 1,800 in the third quarter of 2016. Net orders
increased approximately 8% to 1,874 in the third quarter from 1,737
in the same period of 2016.
Ending backlog increased to 3,333 units at the end of third
quarter of 2017, compared to 3,251 at September 30, 2016.
“Considering that two of our largest divisions were severely
impacted by hurricanes in the third quarter, we are pleased to have
delivered solid year-over-year growth, which could have been even
greater without the storms,” said Steven J. Hilton, chairman and
chief executive officer for Meritage Homes. “We lost two weeks of
production and sales in Houston, which delayed an estimated 30-35
closings and as many as 40 sales during the quarter, though our
operations in Houston have been fully up and running for most of
September.
“Florida is a different story, where we experienced severe
disruptions due to extensive damage to the electrical grid,” he
continued. “Sales and production were interrupted for about three
weeks, which pushed approximately 20 closings and 50 sales out of
the third quarter. We have resumed operations in all of our
communities in Florida and are working through many issues, though
we’re experiencing general delays in the after-effects of the
storms.”
The Company expects to report its full third quarter results on
October 27, 2017, and will provide additional details and updated
guidance at that time.
The information included in this press release contains
forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include
management's expectations with respect to the estimated impacts of
the recent hurricanes on our Texas and Florida business in the
third quarter of 2017.
Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and
expectations of Company management, and current market conditions,
which are subject to significant uncertainties and fluctuations.
Actual results may differ from those set forth in the
forward-looking statements. The Company makes no commitment, and
disclaims any duty, to update or revise any forward-looking
statements to reflect future events or changes in these
expectations. Meritage's business is subject to a number of risks
and uncertainties. As a result of those risks and uncertainties,
the Company's stock and note prices may fluctuate dramatically.
These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the
following: potential adverse impacts on our Houston and Florida
sales, closings, revenue and costs due to Hurricanes Harvey and
Irma; the availability and cost of finished lots and undeveloped
land; changes in interest rates and the availability and pricing of
residential mortgages; the success of strategic initiatives;
shortages in the availability and cost of labor; changes in tax
laws that adversely impact us or our homebuyers; the ability of our
potential buyers to sell their existing homes; cancellation rates;
inflation in the cost of materials used to develop communities and
construct homes; the adverse effect of slow absorption rates;
impairments of our real estate inventory; a change to the
feasibility of projects under option or contract that could result
in the write-down or write-off of earnest or option deposits; our
potential exposure to and impacts from natural disasters or severe
weather conditions; competition; construction defect and home
warranty claims; failures in health and safety performance; our
success in prevailing on contested tax positions; our ability to
obtain performance bonds in connection with our development work;
the loss of key personnel; enactment of new laws or regulations or
our failure to comply with laws and regulations; our limited
geographic diversification; fluctuations in quarterly operating
results; our level of indebtedness; our ability to obtain
financing; our ability to successfully integrate acquired companies
and achieve anticipated benefits from these acquisitions; our
compliance with government regulations; the effect of legislative
and other governmental actions, orders, policies or initiatives
that impact housing, labor availability, construction, mortgage
availability, our access to capital, the cost of capital or the
economy in general, or other initiatives that seek to restrain
growth of new housing construction or similar measures; legislation
relating to energy and climate change; the replication of our
energy-efficient technologies by our competitors; our exposure to
information technology failures and security breaches; and other
factors identified in documents filed by the Company with the
Securities and Exchange Commission, including those set forth in
our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2016 and our
subsequent Forms 10-Q, under the caption "Risk Factors," which can
be found on our website.
About Meritage Homes Corporation
Meritage Homes is the eighth-largest public homebuilder in the
United States, based on homes closed in 2016. Meritage Homes builds
and sells single-family homes for first- time, move-up, luxury and
active adult buyers across the Western, Southern and Southeastern
United States. Meritage Homes builds in markets including
Sacramento, San Francisco Bay area, southern coastal and Inland
Empire markets in California; Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Austin and
San Antonio, Texas; Phoenix/Scottsdale, Green Valley and Tucson,
Arizona; Denver, Colorado; Orlando, Tampa and south Florida;
Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina; Greenville-Spartanburg and
York County, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Atlanta,
Georgia.
Meritage Homes has designed and built over 100,000 homes in its
32-year history, and has a reputation for its distinctive style,
quality construction, and positive customer experience. Meritage
Homes is the industry leader in energy-efficient homebuilding and
has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR
Partner of the Year for Sustained Excellence Award every year since
2013 for innovation and industry leadership in energy efficient
homebuilding.
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Contacts:
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Brent Anderson, VP
Investor Relations |
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(972) 580-6360
(office) |
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investors@meritagehomes.com |
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