Headquarters: 15326 Alton Parkway, Irvine
Employees: 972; 282 in OC
Business: homebuilder
Market Value as of April 1: $96 million
Revenue for 12 months ended Dec. 31: $1.54 billion, down 47%
Net loss for 12 months ended Dec. 31: $1.2 billion, widened from $767 million loss
Year in review: Standard Pacific wants to be one of the country’s five largest homebuilders once the housing market recovers.
It was the 11th largest homebuilder by sales during the housing boom.
But first it has to survive a housing and mortgage crunch that’s shown few signs of improvement, especially in the once-hot markets that Standard Pacific builds in: Califor-nia, Florida, Arizona and Nevada.
Standard Pacific’s revenue from home sales in 2008, when it sold 5,025 homes, was off nearly 50% from a year ago, and more than 60% from the company’s peak a few years ago.
The homebuilder has seen few signs of a turnaround, and it has opted to sell excess land, write-down the value of other assets and downsize in other areas to weather the current market.
Write-offs on land the company owns totaled nearly $650 million last year, and it sold some 6,400 home lots to other builders and developers for about $281 million.
Standard Pacific discontinued operations in two markets: Tucson and San Antonio.
On the bright side, the company’s no longer on anyone’s short-list of big homebuilders tapped to go bankrupt.
New York-based MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC, a hedge fund, infused some $530 million into Standard Pacific last June. In return it became the builder’s largest shareholder.
The money’s being used to pay down debt and could be tapped to buy other homebuilders at big discounts. Late last year, Standard Pacific considered buying Holly-wood, Fla.-based Tousa Inc. but then decided against it.
Looking Ahead: A third chief executive in as many years has the company on a new, leaner path.
Kenneth Campbell, a turnaround specialist and a partner at MatlinPatterson, took over the reins in December. He replaced Jeffrey Peterson, who held the top spot for less than a year.
Campbell has had to readjust Mat-linPatterson’s strategy for Standard Pacific, particularly acquisitions, as the housing market’s yet to recover.
“The market has gotten worse since last June,” Campbell said. “We expected it to get worse at MatlinPatterson. (But) it’s gotten worse than we expected.”
Standard Pacific has enough money to cover debts and operations, officials said. Conserving cash right now is the company’s focus. The hedge fund has a long-term vision for the builder and isn’t panicking, Campbell said.
Wall Street’s Take: Standard Pacific’s stock performance has largely mirrored that of other big homebuilders during a disastrous 12-month stretch, although the Irvine-based builder’s drops have been more pronounced.
The company’s shares are off by about 80% in the past year, compared to declines of about 70% for Centex Corp. and about 60% for Lennar Corp.
Standard Pacific now counts a recent market value of $96 million, well below the $3 billion value it had in 2005.
Standard Pacific’s cash flow “will weaken considerably in 2009 and be followed by an even weaker 2010,” Moody’s Corp. said in March, while cutting its credit rating on the company.
,
Mark Mueller
WHO’S IN CHARGE
KENNETH CAMPBELL
Chief executive, president, Standard Pacific
Joined Company: December (director since July)
Career: A partner with hedge fund MatlinPatterson Global Advisers LLC since 2007. Previously chief executive of Ormet Corp., an aluminum producer, and
chief financial officer of transit company RailWorks Corp.
Notable: Nomadic, turnaround specialist with more than 20 years of restructuring experience.
