KB Home posts smaller 1Q loss, but orders fall
- Details
- Published on 03/23/2012 - 1:30 pm
- Written by Alex Veiga, AP Writer
KB Home is based in Los Angeles (AP Photo)(AP) — KB Home says cancellations on contracts for new homes spiked in its fiscal first quarter, driving its home orders down 8 percent — not an encouraging sign heading into the spring home-selling season. Shares slumped.
Orders were canceled because KB Home raised prices and some mortgage lenders backed away from making loans.
But in a conference call with analysts, CEO Jeffrey Mezger stresses that overall, the housing market is improving in the United States.
The Los Angeles homebuilder says it lost $45.8 million, or 59 cents a share, for the quarter ended Feb. 29. That compares with a loss of $114.5 million, or $1.49 per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose 29 percent
