Lennar Q3 Profit Rises On Higher Deliveries, Sales Price - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Homebuilder Lennar Corp. (LEN, LEN.B) reported Tuesday that its third-quarter net earnings attributable to the company increased to $249.17 million or $1.06 per share from last year's attributable net earnings of $235.84 million, or $1.01 per share.

The latest results included WCI Communities, Inc.

According to the firm, the improved results reflected strong demand for homes, low unemployment, favorable interest rates and increased consumer confidence which are all signs of a very healthy homebuilding market.

Total revenues increased to $3.26 billion from prior year's $2.83 billion.

Revenues from home sales increased 17 percent to $2.8 billion from $2.4 billion in 2016. Revenues were higher primarily due to a 12 percent increase in the number of home deliveries, excluding unconsolidated entities, and a 4 percent increase in the average sales price of homes delivered.

In the quarter, new home deliveries, excluding unconsolidated entities, increased to 7,588 homes from 6,758 homes last year.

The average sales price of homes delivered was $375,000 in the third quarter of 2017, compared to $362,000 in the third quarter of 2016.

Gross margins on home sales were $650.4 million, or 22.8 percent, compared to $551.7 million, or 22.6 percent, last year.

Looking ahead, the company said it maintains estimate that approximately 950 closings will be pushed from 2017 into 2018, given the disruption from the preparation for the storms, clean-up after the storms, and restart and normalization of business operations.

Stuart Miller, Chief Executive Officer of Lennar, said, "We expect that once we get past the short-term impact from the storms, there will be increased economic activity and an increased demand for new homes which will result in a broader range of opportunities for us as we look towards 2018."