Beazer homes reports fiscal 2015 results
Atlanta--(business wire)--beazer homes usa, inc. (nyse: bzh) (www.beazer.com) today announced its financial results for the quarter and fiscal year ended september 30, 2015. the company reported income from continuing operations of $346.6 million for its full year fiscal 2015, including a $324.6 million tax benefit that reflects the reversal of a substantial portion of the valuation allowance against its deferred tax assets. adjusted ebitda, excluding unexpected warranty costs and a litigation settlement in discontinued operations, was $144.1 million for the year, up $10.9 million from fiscal 2014. new home orders increased 12.8% for the full year, with an average active community count that was 13.4% higher than a year ago. absorption rates remained strong at 2.8 sales per community per month for the year, while the company's average sales price (“asp”) increased to $313.5 thousand, the highest asp for any year in its history. finally, the company's backlog value at september 30, 2015 was $667.7 million, up nearly 30% from the prior year, with units up 20.6% and pricing in backlog up 7.3% to $327.6 thousand. additionally, the company announced that it increased the capacity of its secured revolving credit facility to $145 million from $130 million and extended the maturity date to january 15, 2018. “after returning to profitability last year, 2015 represented a meaningful step forward in achieving our “2b-10” goals, with growth in both revenue and adjusted ebitda arising from higher community count, additional closings and an increase in average sales prices. this was accomplished while maintaining our operating margins, as the benefit from improving leverage and higher prices offset the impact from rising costs,” said allan merrill, ceo of beazer homes. “looking ahead to fiscal 2016 and beyond,” mr. merrill continued, “we expect significant ebitda growth, as we benefit from more closings, further increases in average sales prices and additional fixed cost leverage, enabling us to achieve our “2b-10” goals in fiscal 2017, in line with our previous guidance. at the same time, we expect to take steps this year to reduce our leverage, reflecting our view that doing so in an improving market will create long-term shareholder value.” summary results for the three and twelve months ended september 30, 2015 are as follows: q4 results from continuing operations (unless otherwise specified) 322.6 diluted income per share fiscal year results from continuing operations (unless otherwise specified) conference call the company will hold a conference call on november 10, 2015 at 11:00 a.m. et to discuss these results. interested parties may listen to the conference call and view the company’s slide presentation over the internet by visiting the “investor relations” section of the company’s website at www.beazer.com. to access the conference call by telephone, listeners should dial 800-619-8639 (for international callers, dial 312-470-7002). to be admitted to the call, verbally supply the passcode “bzh.” a replay of the call will be available shortly after the conclusion of the live call. to directly access the replay, dial 866-448-5643 or 203-369-1188 and enter the passcode “3740” (available until 11:59 p.m. et on november 17, 2015), or visit www.beazer.com. a replay of the webcast will be available at www.beazer.com for at least 30 days. headquartered in atlanta, beazer homes is a geographically diversified homebuilder with active operations in 13 states within three geographic regions in the united states. the company's homes meet or exceed the benchmark for energy efficient home construction as established by energy star® and are designed with choice planstm to meet the personal preferences and lifestyles of its buyers. in addition, the company is committed to providing a range of preferred lender choices to facilitate transparent competition between lenders and enhanced customer service. the company's active operations are in the following states: arizona, california, delaware, florida, georgia, indiana, maryland, nevada, north carolina, south carolina, tennessee, texas and virginia. beazer homes is listed on the new york stock exchange under the ticker symbol “bzh.” for more info visit beazer.com, or check out beazer on facebook and twitter. this press release contains forward-looking statements. these forward-looking statements represent our expectations or beliefs concerning future events, and it is possible that the results described in this press release will not be achieved. these forward-looking statements are subject to risks, uncertainties and other factors, many of which are outside of our control, that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including, among other things: (i) continuing severe weather conditions or other related events could result in delays in land development or home construction, increase our costs or decrease demand in the impacted areas; (ii) the availability and cost of land and the risks associated with the future value of our inventory such as additional asset impairment charges or writedowns; (iii) economic changes nationally or in local markets, including changes in consumer confidence, declines in employment levels, inflation and increases in the quantity and decreases in the price of new homes and resale homes in the market; (iv) the cyclical nature of the homebuilding industry and a potential deterioration in homebuilding industry conditions; (v) estimates related to homes to be delivered in the future (backlog) are imprecise as they are subject to various cancellation risks which cannot be fully controlled; (vi) shortages of or increased prices for labor, land or raw materials used in housing production and the level of quality and craftsmanship provided by our subcontractors; (vii) our cost of and ability to access capital and otherwise meet our ongoing liquidity needs including the impact of any downgrades of our credit ratings or reductions in our tangible net worth or liquidity levels; (viii) our ability to reduce our outstanding indebtedness and to comply with covenants in our debt agreements or satisfy such obligations through repayment or refinancing; (ix) a substantial increase in mortgage interest rates, increased disruption in the availability of mortgage financing, a change in tax laws regarding the deductibility of mortgage interest for tax purposes, or an increased number of foreclosures; (x) increased competition or delays in reacting to changing consumer preference in home design; (xi) factors affecting margins such as decreased land values underlying land option agreements, increased land development costs on communities under development or delays or difficulties in implementing initiatives to reduce production and overhead cost structure; (xii) estimates related to the potential recoverability of our deferred tax assets; (xiii) potential delays or increased costs in obtaining necessary permits as a result of changes to, or complying with, laws, regulations, or governmental policies and possible penalties for failure to comply with such laws, regulations and governmental policies, including these related to the environment; (xiv) the results of litigation or government proceedings and fulfillment of the obligations in the consent orders with governmental authorities and other settlement agreements; (xv) the impact of construction defect and home warranty claims, including water intrusion issues in florida and new jersey; (xvi) the cost and availability of insurance and surety bonds; (xvii) the performance of our unconsolidated entities and our unconsolidated entity partners; (xviii) the impact of information technology failures or data security breaches; (xix) terrorist acts, acts of war or other factors over which the company has little or no control; or (xx) the impact on homebuilding in key markets of governmental regulations limiting the availability of water. any forward-looking statement speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made, and, except as required by law, we do not undertake any obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. new factors emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such factors. beazer homes usa, inc. consolidated statements of income (in thousands, except per share data) beazer homes usa, inc. consolidated balance sheets (in thousands, except share and per share data) assets beazer homes usa, inc. consolidated operating and financial data – continuing operations 2015 360 beazer homes usa, inc. consolidated operating and financial data – continuing operations (in thousands) revenues: reconciliation of homebuilding gross profit before impairments and abandonments and interest amortized to cost of sales and the related gross margins to homebuilding gross profit and gross margin, the most directly comparable gaap measure, is provided for each period discussed below. management believes that this information assists investors in comparing the operating characteristics of homebuilding activities by eliminating many of the differences in companies' respective level of impairments and level of debt. in addition, given the unusual size and nature of certain unexpected warranty charges during the periods presented, homebuilding gross profit is also shown excluding these charges. management believes that this representation best reflects the operating characteristics of the company. reconciliation of adjusted ebitda (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization, debt extinguishment, impairments and abandonments) to total company net loss, the most directly comparable gaap measure, is provided for each period discussed below. management believes that adjusted ebitda assists investors in understanding and comparing the operating characteristics of homebuilding activities by eliminating many of the differences in companies' respective capitalization, tax position and level of impairments. in addition, given the unusual size and nature of certain charges recorded during the periods presented, adjusted ebitda is also shown excluding these charges. management believes that this representation best reflects the operating characteristics of the company.
