Toll Brothers Q4 Revenue Climbs - Update

(RTTNews) - Luxury home builder Toll Brothers, Inc. (TOL) Monday said its total revenues for the fourth quarter grew 29 percent from last year, helped by improved demand.

Announcing its preliminary results for the fourth quarter ended October 31, the company said its home building revenues climbed to $1.35 billion from $1.04 billion in the previous year, with units increasing to 1,807 from 1,485.

On average, 20 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected total revenues of $1.31 billion for the quarter.

Average price of homes delivered was $747,000, up from $703,000 in the same quarter last year.

Net signed contracts climbed 16 percent to $970.2 million from $839.0 million in the preceding year, with 1,282 units, an increase of 10 percent from 1,163 units a year earlier.

The average price per unit of net contracts signed increased to $757,000 from $721,000 in the prior-year fourth quarter. On a per-community basis, net signed contracts were 5.01, compared to 5.17 in 2013.

Douglas Yearley, Jr., chief executive officer said, "For the first time in four quarters, our contracts were up in both dollars and units compared to the prior year's same period. We also saw solid growth in our traffic and deposits. We are pleased with our strong finish to FY 2014 and, given the fourth quarter's improvement in demand, begin FY 2015 with optimism."

For fiscal 2014, home building revenues were $3.91 billion and 5,397 units, an increase of 46 percent in dollars and 29 percent in units from fiscal 2013.

The company ended fiscal 2014 with a backlog of about $2.72 billion and 3,679 units, an increase of 3 percent in dollars and 11 in units, compared to $2.63 billion and 3,679 units at the end of fiscal 2013.

During the fourth quarter, the firm repurchased 2.94 million shares of its common stock at an average price of $30.78 for a total purchase price of $90.4 million.

TOL closed Friday's trading at $32.22.