Irvine-based Standard Pacific Corp. posted its second consecutive profitable quarter on Tuesday, although company officials are bracing themselves for a longer-than-expected economic recovery that could hinder near-term growth.
The company, Orange County’s largest homebuilder, reported a third-quarter profit of $4.5 million. Analysts had been expecting Standard Pacific to post a small loss in the quarter.
Standard Pacific now has turned a profit in three of the past four quarters, after seeing several years of losses prior to that. The company lost $23.8 million in the third quarter of 2009.
Revenue for the quarter was $207.5 million, down 37% from a year earlier.
Analysts were expecting revenue closer to $220 million.
The company, which counts a market value of about $400 million, sold and closed on 599 homes in the quarter, down 33% from a year earlier.
While home sales are down, prices and profit margins are up, the company said.
The average price of a home Standard Pacific sold in the quarter was $345,000, a 14% increase from a year earlier.
Standard Pacific’s gross margin from home sales was 23.6% in the third quarter, up from 18.6%.
The company’s selling more pricey homes in its primary Southern California market than a year ago, while cutting back in Florida.
Ken Campbell, Standard Pacific’s chief executive, said he was pleased with the results, considering the company is operating in “an extremely challenging housing market.”
“It appears that the nation’s economic recovery may take longer than many anticipated,” he said. “We will continue to manage through this downturn with a focus on rebuilding our land portfolio, while keeping an eye on maintaining the proper balance between new investment and liquidity.”
Standard Pacific closed on the purchase of about 1,800 lots valued at $127 million during the quarter. It also approved, but has yet to close on, an additional $93 million of land deals that could hold another 2,000 home lots.
