KB Home (NYSE: KBH), one of the nation’s largest and most recognized
homebuilders, today reported preliminary quarter-to-date net orders for
its first fiscal quarter of 2013. Net orders for new homes were 750
quarter-to-date through January 18, 2013, representing an increase of
54%, compared to net orders of 488 through January 20, 2012 in the first
quarter of last year. While the improved quarter-to-date net orders
compare favorably to the weak net order performance in the prior year
period, the relative improvement is expected to moderate as the fiscal
first quarter 2013 continues.
“We have seen a measurable increase in our first quarter net orders as
compared to the same period last year,” said Jeffrey Mezger, president
and chief executive officer of KB Home. “This trend reflects the ongoing
improvement in the housing market and our focused execution of our
strategic growth initiatives.”
To learn more about KB Home, visit kbhome.com or call 888-KB-HOMES.
About KB Home
KB Home is one of the largest and most recognized homebuilding companies
in the United States. Since its founding in 1957, the company has built
more than half a million quality homes. KB Home's signature Built to
Order™ approach lets each buyer customize their new home from lot
location to floor plan and design features. In addition to meeting
strict ENERGY STAR® guidelines, all KB homes are highly energy efficient
to help lower monthly utility costs for homeowners, which the company
demonstrates with its proprietary KB Home Energy Performance Guide®
(EPG®). A leader in utilizing state-of-the-art sustainable building
practices, KB Home was named the #1 Green Homebuilder in the most recent
study by Calvert Investments and the #1 Homebuilder on FORTUNE
magazine's 2011 World's Most Admired Companies list. Los Angeles-based
KB Home was the first homebuilder listed on the New York Stock Exchange,
and trades under the ticker symbol "KBH." For more information about KB
Home's new home communities, call 888-KB-HOMES or visit www.kbhome.com.
Forward-Looking and Cautionary Statements
The above data reflect current operating statistics and do not
constitute all factors impacting the quarterly and annual financial
results of KB Home. All figures are unaudited and may be adjusted in the
reported financial statements of KB Home. KB Home makes no commitment to
update this information for changes in circumstances or events that
occur subsequent to the date of this release. In addition, certain
matters discussed in this press release, including any statements that
are predictive in nature or concern future market and economic
conditions, business and prospects, our future financial and operational
performance, or our future actions and their expected results are
“forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Forward-looking statements are
based on current expectations and projections about future events and
are not guarantees of future performance. We do not have a specific
policy or intent of updating or revising forward-looking statements.
Actual events and results may differ materially from those expressed or
forecasted in forward-looking statements due to a number of factors. The
most important risk factors that could cause our actual performance and
future events and actions to differ materially from such forward-looking
statements include, but are not limited to the following: general
economic, employment and business conditions; adverse market conditions,
including an increased supply of unsold homes, declining home prices and
greater foreclosure and short sale activity, among other things, that
could result in, among other negative impacts on our consolidated
financial statements, additional impairment or land option contract
abandonment charges, lower revenues and operating and other losses;
conditions in the capital, credit and financial markets (including
mortgage lending standards, the availability of mortgage financing and
mortgage foreclosure rates); material prices and availability; labor
costs and availability; changes in interest rates; inflation; our debt
level, including our ratio of debt to total capital, and our ability to
adjust our debt level, maturity schedule and structure and to access the
equity, credit, capital or other financial markets or other external
financing sources, including raising capital through the public or
private issuance of common stock, debt or other securities, and/or
obtaining a credit or similar facility or project financing, on
favorable terms; weak or declining consumer confidence, either generally
or specifically with respect to purchasing homes; competition for home
sales from other sellers of new and resale homes, including lenders and
other sellers of homes obtained through foreclosures or short sales;
weather conditions, significant natural disasters and other
environmental factors; government actions, policies, programs and
regulations directed at or affecting the housing market (including, but
not limited to, the 2010 Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer
Protection Act, tax credits, tax incentives and/or subsidies for home
purchases, tax deductions for mortgage interest payments and property
taxes, tax exemptions for profits on home sales, and programs intended
to modify existing mortgage loans and to prevent mortgage foreclosures),
the homebuilding industry, or construction activities; decisions by
lawmakers on federal fiscal policies, including those relating to
taxation and government spending; the availability and cost of land in
desirable areas; our warranty claims experience with respect to homes
previously delivered and actual warranty costs incurred; legal or
regulatory proceedings or claims; our ability to use/realize the net
deferred tax assets we have generated; our ability to successfully
implement our current and planned product, geographic and market
positioning (including, but not limited to, our efforts to expand our
inventory base/pipeline with desirable land positions or interests at
reasonable cost and to expand our community count, open additional new
home communities for sales and sell higher-priced homes and more design
options, and our operational and investment concentration in markets in
California and Texas), revenue growth, asset optimization, asset
activation, local field management and talent investment, and overhead
and other cost management strategies and initiatives; consumer traffic
to our new home communities and consumer interest in our product designs
and offerings, particularly higher-income consumers; cancellations and
our ability to realize our backlog by converting net orders to home
deliveries; our home sales and delivery performance in key markets in
California and Texas; the manner in which our homebuyers are offered and
whether they are able to obtain mortgage loans and mortgage banking
services, including from our preferred mortgage lender, Nationstar
Mortgage LLC; the performance of Nationstar as our preferred mortgage
lender; information technology failures and data security breaches; and
other events outside of our control. Please see our periodic reports and
other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a further
discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties applicable to our
business.