KB Home Reports First Quarter 2006 Results

LOS ANGELES, March 22 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- KB Home , one of the largest homebuilders in the United States and France, today announced its financial results for the first quarter of 2006. Highlights include:

* Total revenues rose 34% to $2.19 billion for the quarter ended February 28, 2006 from $1.64 billion in the year-earlier quarter. A larger volume of unit deliveries and a higher average selling price contributed to the increase. Unit deliveries rose to 7,905 in the quarter, up 15% from the first quarter of 2005. The average selling price of the Company's homes increased 17% to $276,200 in the first quarter of 2006, up from $236,300 in the year-earlier quarter. * Net income increased 42% to $174.5 million in the first quarter of 2006, up from $122.7 million for the same period of 2005. Strong earnings growth was fueled by higher revenues and an improved operating margin in the Company's homebuilding operations. The Company's diluted earnings per share rose 43% to $2.02 in the first quarter of 2006, up from $1.41 in the first quarter of 2005. * The Dollar value of the Company's backlog increased 25% to $7.24 billion on 26,536 units at February 28, 2006, up from $5.80 billion on 23,334 units at February 28, 2005, with each of the Company's geographic regions generating a year-over-year increase in backlog value. * The Company repurchased two million shares of its common stock during the first quarter of 2006 at an aggregate price of $154.4 million. As of February 28, 2006, the Company had authorization to repurchase an additional eight million shares under its current board-approved repurchase program. * Based on the results of the first quarter and current forecast for the remainder of its 2006 fiscal year, the Company maintained its earnings guidance of $11.25 per diluted share for the year, which represents an increase of 18% over its 2005 diluted earnings per share.

"Our record first quarter deliveries, revenues and earnings represent a great start for our 2006 fiscal year," said Bruce Karatz, chairman and chief executive officer. "Our homebuilding operations continue to benefit from geographic and product diversity, attractive interest rates, and healthy economic conditions and employment levels in our most important markets. And our organization continues to set the industry pace for exceptional service to both homebuyers and shareholders. During the quarter, we were honored to be ranked the #1 homebuilder in Fortune magazine's 2006 list of America's Most Admired Companies."

Company-wide revenues increased 34% to $2.19 billion for the quarter ended February 28, 2006, up from $1.64 billion for the year-earlier quarter due to growth within the Company's homebuilding operations. Housing revenues rose 35% in the first quarter of 2006 to $2.18 billion, up from $1.62 billion in the year-earlier quarter, reflecting increased unit deliveries and a higher average selling price. Unit deliveries grew 15% to 7,905 in the first quarter of 2006 from 6,847 in the corresponding quarter of 2005, while the Company's first quarter average selling price increased 17% to $276,200 in 2006 from $236,300 in 2005, with all domestic regions posting year-over-year increases.

Construction operating income rose 40% to $274.2 million in the first quarter of 2006 from $195.6 million in the year-earlier quarter, reflecting both increased revenues and an improved operating margin. The Company's construction operating margin expanded .5 percentage points to 12.5%, up from 12.0% in the first quarter of 2005, as the housing gross margin also grew .5 percentage points to 26.0% from 25.5%. Higher revenues and an improved operating margin boosted pretax income by 44% in the first quarter of 2006 to $268.4 million, up from $186.0 million in same quarter of 2005. Earnings per diluted share rose 43% to $2.02 in the current quarter, up from $1.41 in the year-earlier quarter, driven by the higher pretax earnings.

"We endeavor to create value for our shareholders in a number of ways across a number of operating environments: strong, sustained financial performance, an industry-leading dividend payment, and an aggressive share repurchase program," said Karatz. "Over the past two quarters, we have opportunistically repurchased four million shares of common stock, and we retain the authority, under our current share repurchase program, to repurchase an additional eight million shares. We expect to use our strong cash-generating abilities in the future to make growth-oriented business investments and to repurchase additional company common stock if market conditions and buying opportunities warrant it. We also intend to maintain our solid financial position while making these investments and repurchases."

The Company generated 8,719 net orders during the quarter ended February 28, 2006, a decrease of 12% from the 9,901 net orders posted in the first quarter of 2005. Backlog units increased 14% on a year-over-year basis to 26,536 units at February 28, 2006. Backlog value rose to approximately $7.24 billion, up 25% from $5.80 billion a year ago with all regions generating year-over-year growth.

"After several years of exceptional growth and rapid price escalation in many housing markets, it is likely that we will see some markets pull back this year from their recent pace," said Karatz. "Our gross orders, which were only slightly below the year-earlier quarter, reflected steady demand. However, higher cancellation rates, which rose to more normalized levels, adversely impacted our net order comparison in the first quarter. Since we are just entering our prime selling season, it is still too early in the year to forecast the longer-term sales trend. Nevertheless, we remain cautiously optimistic due to the strength of the economies in our major markets, where historically healthy demand is expected to continue. As always, we remain focused on generating net orders to sustain our backlog and support future earnings growth."

"Nationally, it is clear that some housing markets have moderated from the over-heated and, in some cases, speculative pace of growth of the past few years," said Karatz. "In our view, this tempering of demand to more sustainable long-term levels is a healthy trend for our company and the industry. There are signs of cooling in the hottest markets on both coasts and a shift in investor activity from buying to selling, resulting in less demand and increased supply in certain markets. Once these factors work their way through current housing supplies, however, we expect the market to move to a new equilibrium which will provide a platform for continuing and sustainable growth by KB Home. With this outlook and our healthy first-quarter performance, we feel confident in maintaining our earnings estimate of $11.25 per diluted share for 2006."

The Conference Call on the First Quarter 2006 Earnings will be broadcast live tomorrow at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Standard Time, 11:00 a.m. Eastern Standard Time. To listen, please go to the Investor Relations section of the Company's Web site at http://www.kbhome.com/.

Building homes for nearly half a century, KB Home is one of America's premier homebuilders with domestic operating divisions in some of the fastest-growing regions and states: West Coast -- California; Southwest -- Arizona, Nevada and New Mexico; Central -- Colorado, Illinois, Indiana, Louisiana and Texas; and Southeast -- Florida, Georgia, Maryland, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia. Kaufman & Broad S.A., the Company's publicly-traded French subsidiary, is one of the leading homebuilders in France. In fiscal 2005, the Company delivered homes to 37,140 families in the United States and France. KB Home also offers complete mortgage services through Countrywide KB Home Loans, a joint venture with Countrywide Financial Corporation. Founded in 1957, and ranked the #1 homebuilder in Fortune Magazine's 2006 list of America's Most Admired Companies, KB Home is a Fortune 500 company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the ticker symbol "KBH." For more information about any of KB Home's new home communities, call 888-KB-HOMES (888-KB-CASAS) or visit http://www.kbhome.com/ (http://www.kbcasa.com/).

Certain matters discussed in this press release, including any statements concerning our future financial performance, business and prospects, and our future actions and their expected results, are "forward-looking statements" as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to risks, uncertainties, assumptions and other factors that could cause actual results to be materially different, including, but not limited to, changes in general economic conditions, material prices and availability, labor costs and availability, interest rates and our debt levels, the secondary market for loans, consumer confidence, competition, currency exchange rates (insofar as they affect our operations in France), environmental factors (including weather) and significant natural disasters (including the effect of recent hurricanes on the U.S. housing market and U.S. economy in general), government regulations affecting our operations, the availability and cost of land in desirable areas, violations of our policies, legal or regulatory proceedings or claims, conditions in the capital, credit and homebuilding markets and other events outside of our control. See our Annual Report on Form 10-K and Annual Report to Shareholders for the year ended November 30, 2005 and our other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties applicable to our business. We do not have a specific policy or intent of updating or revising forward-looking statements.

For Further Information Contact: Kelly Masuda, Investor Relations (310) 893-7434 or kmasuda@kbhome.com Caroline Shaw, Media Contact (310) 231-4165 or cshaw@kbhome.com KB HOME CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF INCOME For the Three Months Ended February 28, 2006 and 2005 (In Thousands, Except Per Share Amounts - Unaudited) Three Months 2006 2005 Total revenues $2,191,650 $1,636,120 Construction: Revenues $2,187,324 $1,628,493 Costs and expenses (1,913,157) (1,432,873) Operating income 274,167 195,620 Interest income 1,180 980 Interest expense, net of amounts capitalized (4,753) (2,416) Minority interests (11,717) (14,360) Equity in pretax income of unconsolidated joint ventures 5,755 5,617 Construction pretax income 264,632 185,441 Financial services: Revenues 4,326 7,627 Expenses (1,747) (7,024) Equity in pretax income of unconsolidated joint venture 1,150 -- Financial services pretax income 3,729 603 Total pretax income 268,361 186,044 Income taxes (93,900) (63,300) Net income $174,461 $122,744 Basic earnings per share $2.15 $1.53 Diluted earnings per share $2.02 $1.41 Basic average shares outstanding 81,031 80,194 Diluted average shares outstanding 86,248 87,096 KB HOME CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (In Thousands - Unaudited) February 28, November 30, February 28, 2006 2005 2005 Assets Construction: Cash and cash equivalents $71,224 $144,783 $112,989 Receivables 568,663 580,931 457,159 Inventories 6,953,844 6,128,342 4,678,998 Investments in unconsolidated joint ventures 348,350 275,378 188,874 Deferred income taxes 211,940 220,814 213,015 Goodwill 243,175 242,589 249,080 Other assets 139,153 124,150 162,201 8,536,349 7,716,987 6,062,316 Financial services 37,699 29,933 197,251 Total assets $8,574,048 $7,746,920 $6,259,567 Liabilities and Stockholders' Equity Construction: Accounts payable $945,232 $892,727 $722,768 Accrued expenses and other liabilities 1,406,379 1,338,626 703,491 Mortgages and notes payable 3,116,618 2,463,814 2,389,073 5,468,229 4,695,167 3,815,332 Financial services 51,905 55,131 122,745 Minority interests 150,955 144,951 133,207 Stockholders' equity 2,902,959 2,851,671 2,188,283 Total liabilities and stockholders' equity $8,574,048 $7,746,920 $6,259,567 KB HOME SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION For the Three Months Ended February 28, 2006 and 2005 (In Thousands - Unaudited) Three Months Construction revenues: 2006 2005 Housing $2,183,144 $1,618,099 Commercial -- 2,184 Land 4,180 8,210 Total $2,187,324 $1,628,493 Three Months Costs and expenses: 2006 2005 Construction and land costs Housing $1,615,061 $1,206,200 Commercial -- 1,832 Land 3,254 4,343 Subtotal 1,618,315 1,212,375 Selling, general and administrative expenses 294,842 220,498 Total $1,913,157 $1,432,873 Three Months Interest expense: 2006 2005 Interest incurred $51,566 $41,196 Interest capitalized (46,813) (38,780) Interest expense $4,753 $2,416 Three Months Other information: 2006 2005 Depreciation and amortization $4,676 $5,003 Amortization of previously capitalized interest 23,413 16,063 KB HOME SUPPLEMENTAL INFORMATION For the Three Months Ended February 28, 2006 and 2005 (Unaudited) Three Months Average sales price: 2006 2005 West Coast $486,500 $449,200 Southwest 321,500 233,400 Central 157,400 151,500 Southeast 239,000 191,400 France 210,000 225,700 Total $276,200 $236,300 Three Months Unit deliveries: 2006 2005 West Coast 1,446 1,095 Southwest 1,552 1,572 Central 1,835 1,873 Southeast 1,610 1,314 France 1,462 993 Total 7,905 6,847 Unconsolidated Joint Ventures: 76 210 Three Months Net orders: 2006 2005 West Coast 1,399 1,857 Southwest 1,492 2,140 Central 2,295 2,541 Southeast 1,854 1,841 France 1,679 1,522 Total 8,719 9,901 Unconsolidated Joint Ventures: 209 55 February 28, 2006 February 28, 2005 Backlog Backlog Backlog Backlog Backlog data: Units Value Units Value (Dollars in thousands) West Coast 4,207 $2,059,191 4,229 $1,878,556 Southwest 5,368 1,690,266 5,120 1,200,915 Central 5,405 841,504 4,726 719,885 Southeast 5,857 1,455,301 4,807 997,926 France 5,699 1,196,790 4,452 1,006,152 Total 26,536 $7,243,052 23,334 $5,803,434 Unconsolidated Joint Ventures: 520 $119,600 340 $60,370