Shares of Standard Pacific Corp. soared Thursday after the Irvine homebuilder reported blockbuster earnings results for the fourth quarter and raised its outlook.
Standard Pacific said fourth-quarter homebuilding sales grew 46% to $1.2 billion, versus a year earlier. Income before taxes jumped 73% to $226 million. The homebuilder’s earnings beat Wall Street estimates by more than 8%.
Shares of Standard Pacific were up 6% to $71.2 in midday trading Thursday. The company reported its earnings after the close of trading Wednesday.
The company’s growth was fueled by sales gains in all areas of the country where it operates. Gains in the Southeast, including in Florida, keyed overall growth.
Florida is expected to surpass California this year in home sales for the company. The company’s average selling price jumped 23% to $398,000 in the quarter.
“Our positive outlook for the year is bolstered by our record backlog of over 6,300 presold homes valued at $2.1 billion, which represents approximately 55% of our projected 2005 revenues,” said Stephen J. Scarborough, chairman and chief executive. “In addition to our strong backlog, the economic and housing fundamentals remain healthy in most of our larger markets.”
While new home orders were strong in the quarter, Standard Pacific is seeing some weakness in its own backyard.
“In Southern California, net new home orders were down 36% for the quarter due to slower sales in Orange and San Diego counties, while sales were up in our Inland Empire and Ventura divisions,” Scarborough said.
Standard Pacific said it expects first-quarter income to jump at least 57% to $60 million, versus a year earlier. Revenue from homebuilding is expected to be $800 million in the period.
