LGI Homes Q3 Profit Climbs On Higher Home Closings, Selling Prices

(RTTNews) - LGI Homes Inc. (LGIH), the homebuilder which went public in November, reported late Tuesday a strong growth in its third-quarter profit as home sales were benefited by higher home closings and average selling price.

The predecessor LGI Homes reported that third-quarter net income attributable to owners increased to $5.59 million from $3.65 million a year ago. LGI Homes' revenues went up to $38.04 million from $23.56 million a year ago.

Total home sales from predecessor LGI Homes and LGI/GTIS Joint Ventures climbed 58.4 percent to $68 million from $42.94 million last year. This consists of an increase of 62.1 percent to $37 million for the company's predecessor and an increase of 54.1 percent to $31.0 million for the LGI/GTIS Joint Ventures.

The company attributed the increase to growth in the number of active selling communities, homes closed and average selling price per home.

The developer of entry-level homes in high growth markets in Texas, Arizona, Florida and Georgia reported that home closings increased 40 percent to 448 units, consisting a 44.6 percent increase in predecessor home closings and a 35.1 percent increase in the Joint Ventures' home closings.

The average home sales price increased 13.1 percent to $151,779, consisting of a 12.1 percent increase in predecessor and a 14.1 percent increase in the Joint Ventures.

Adjusted gross margin was 27.4 percent, 50 basis points lower than last year's 27.9 percent, reflecting the net impact of increased construction costs and higher developed lot costs, offset by higher average home sales prices.

Eric Lipar, Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, said, "We are extremely pleased with these strong results and maintain our positive outlook as we continue to see robust demand from consumers looking for homeownership."

Looking ahead, the company stated that it expects to close more than 420 homes during the fourth quarter of 2013.

For 2014, the company said it believes to have 36 active selling communities at the end of the year and close 2,200 homes during the year.

According to Builder magazine, LGI Homes was the only homebuilder among the 200 largest U.S. homebuilders to report closings and revenue growth from 2006 to 2008 when the housing market experienced a significant decline.

LGI Homes shares closed Tuesday's trading at $17.18, up $0.10 or 0.59 percent.