Toll Bros. first-quarter loss less than expected

After taking fewer write-downs than originally planned, Toll Bros. Inc. yesterday announced a first-quarter loss that was smaller than what the Horsham luxury-home builder had predicted in February.

Still, the outlook for a speedy recovery of the new-home market was not good, with the "plunging stock market, weak consumer confidence, growing job losses, challenging credit markets, and a hobbled economy," chief executive officer Robert I. Toll said in a statement.

For the period ended Jan. 31, Toll posted a loss of $88.9 million, or 55 cents a share, compared with a year-earlier loss of $96 million, or 61 cents a share. First-quarter total revenue of $409.0 million, or 665 units, fell 51 percent from the first-quarter 2008 total revenue of $842.3 million, or 1,208 units.

The period's backlog of $1.04 billion, or 1,647 units, fell 56 percent from the previous first quarter's backlog of $2.40 billion or 3,341 units.

The latest quarter included pretax write-downs totaling $156.6 million, compared with write-downs of $245.5 million a year earlier.

Excluding write-downs, Toll said, its quarterly profit was $9.6 million, or 6 cents a share, compared with $57.3 million, or 35 cents a share, in the comparable period a year earlier.

"We believe there are buyers on the fence," Toll said.

As evidence, he cited the increase in traffic for TBI Mortgage Co., Toll's mortgage company's Web site, after a 3.99 percent mortgage promotion was announced in mid-January.

The number of visitors has grown from 84 a day to 1,617 a day, he said.

"However, we believe weak buyer confidence still impedes the market," Toll said. "We have not yet seen a pickup in activity at our communities, other than ordinary seasonal increases for this time of year."

In this economic climate, Toll said, the company will focus on maintaining a strong balance sheet and significant liquidity.

"With this capital, we hope to take advantage of opportunities we believe will arise from the current downturn," he said. "We are beginning to see some properties come to market at reasonable prices. We have not bought any yet, but we are getting closer."