Irvine-based homebuilder Standard Pacific Corp. reported a fourth-quarter profit after a big charge stemming from a reworking of its debt.
The homebuilder reported an adjusted profit of $4.3 million, versus a break-even estimate by analysts.
A year ago, Standard Pacific earned $82.7 million, helped by a $94.1 million tax break.
Including a $23 million charge for retiring debt early, Standard lost $21.9 million in the recently ended quarter.
Homebuilding revenue came in at $212.4 million, down 37% from a year earlier.
Analysts had been expecting revenue of $213 million.
Standard’s shares were off slightly in afterhours trading. The company counts a market value of about $475 million.
Officials with the company, the largest homebuilder based in the county, said they were pleased with the latest results, and noted the fourth-quarter loss comes with a big asterisk.
The company took a charge related to the refinancing of $575.7 million of debt. Short-term debt now has been reduced from $665 million to less than $90 million.
“Before debt refinancing charges, the fourth quarter represented our third consecutive quarter of generating an operating profit,” Chief Executive Ken Campbell said.
Standard Pacific delivered 619 new homes to buyers in the quarter, down 34% from a year earlier.
New home orders were down 22%, to 428 homes.
Prices were up 7% from a year ago, to $340,000.
The debt reworking and recently raised money should help the company continue buying land, officials said.
The company closed on $33.6 million of land buys in the quarter, and has approvals for another $45 million of land deals.
About 36% of the latest land purchases are in California, 38% are in Texas with the balance spread throughout the company’s other operations.
The company spent about $315 million on land buys for all of 2010.
