Beazer 3Q loss widens, closes on fewer homes

NEW YORK — Beazer Homes USA Inc. said Tuesday that its fiscal third-quarter loss widened as the homebuilder closed on fewer homes and incurred some charges.

Homebuilders are a bellwether for the housing market and the economy. While new homes represent less than one-fifth of the total housing market, they have an outsize impact on the economy. Each new home creates an average of three jobs and $90,000 in taxes, according to the National Association of Home Builders.

Beazer, whose CEO was ousted in June, posted a net loss of $59.1 million, or 80 cents a share, in the three months ended June 30. That compares with a loss of $27.8 million, or 41 cents a share, a year ago.

Beazer’s loss from continuing operations was $55.8 million, or 75 cents per share, which included $16 million in pre-tax charges.

Analysts polled by FactSet expected a smaller loss of 46 cents a share.

Revenue tumbled 49 percent to $172.8 million from $321.8 million, falling well short of Wall Street’s estimate of $230.2 million.

The quarter includes the end of the spring home-selling season, traditionally the peak time of year for home sales.

But high unemployment, larger down-payment requirements and tougher lending standards are preventing many people from buying homes. And some potential buyers who can clear those hurdles are holding off, worried that home prices have yet to bottom out.

Atlanta-based Beazer says its total home closings slid 49 percent to 791 homes because there was a lower backlog of homes at the quarter’s start and no homebuyer’s tax credit to lure potential buyers

Homebuilders got an assist last spring from federal tax credits that helped spur sales before they expired at the end of April 2010.

. New orders rose 23.7 percent as gross new orders climbed and the cancellation rate fell to 24.3 percent from 29.3 percent.

“I’m pleased with our sales efforts during the third quarter. Our sales team was able to overcome significant headwinds in both the economy and the housing market to record substantially improved orders,” President and CEO Allan Merrill said in a statement.

Merrill took over the CEO post from Ian McCarthy, who was fired about three months after he agreed to give back $6.5 million in bonuses and profits from the sale of company stock in a deal with federal regulators. The executive had accrued those gains at a time when investigators said Beazer was committing accounting fraud.

The Atlanta company’s backlog grew to 1,848 homes from 1,175 homes a year earlier.

Beazer is one of the nation’s 10 largest builders of single-family homes and has operations in 16 states.