Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc., which has residential developments in Connecticut, said today its home building revenue dropped 41 percent in its fiscal fourth quarter as the financial crisis exacerbated ongoing weakness in the housing market.
Based in Horsham, Pa., Toll said preliminary home-building revenue declined to $691 million in the three months ended Oct. 31 from $1.17 billion, while backlog dropped 54 percent to $1.33 billion from $2.85 billion.
Net signed contracts for the quarter also slid 27 percent to $266.7 million from $365.3 million.
In Connecticut, Toll’s townhome and single-family developments are in Avon, Berlin, Glastonbury, Newington and communities in Fairfield County.
Toll plans to release full results for the quarter on Dec. 4.
At 11 a.m., Toll Brothers’ shares traded at $18.20, down 75 cents, or 4 percent.
For the fiscal year, home-building revenue declined 32 percent to $3.15 billion, and net signed contracts declined 47 percent to $1.61 billion.
Toll ended the fiscal year with $1.63 billion in cash and believes this liquidity can help the company weather turmoil in the industry.
Chief Executive Robert I. Toll said the preliminary signs of stability in the market discussed by the company in early September were reversed by the financial crisis. At that time, Toll said there were signs of a stabilizing market, as Toll had the lowest contract cancellation rate in more than two years, and more buyers were putting down deposits.
But today, Toll said accelerating fears of job losses and a large decline in consumer spending, among other factors, contributed to drive cancellations up to 233 units and drive home buyer confidence and the company’s traffic and demand down to record lows. (AP)
