Irvine-based Standard Pacific Corp. posted a much larger than expected fourth-quarter loss, but saw a boost in its stock on Tuesday as analyst worries over the homebuilder’s liquidity issues were eased.
The company posted a fourth-quarter loss of $441 million late Monday, up from $98 million a year ago. Most of losses came from land writeoffs, inventory charges and joint venture losses.
Homebuilding revenue totaled $933.6 million in the quarter, down from $1.2 million a year ago.
Standard Pacific said it sold off $268 million of land in the quarter, and has exited “non-core” markets in San Antonio and Tucson. The number of lots it owns is down 43% from a year ago.
The losses didn’t faze analysts or investors, who were enthused about the company’s ability to generate cash flow of nearly $350 million in the quarter while reducing its stake in joint ventures, which should allow the company to pay down its debt.
Shares of Standard Pacific’s stock were up 8% on Tuesday. The company’s shares are now at its highest point in more than three months, and have nearly doubled in the past three weeks.
Standard Pacific counts a market value of about $360 million.
The company still is working on its debt issues. It said it has obtained a waiver from its banks until the end of March to prevent defaulting on some loans, and plans to continue talks with its banks to amend terms of its loans.
