Toll Brothers celebrates ‘excellent year’

The 12 months ended 31 October, 2013, represented an “excellent year” for US luxury home builder Toll Brothers, according to CEO Douglas Yearley Jr.

The company reported pre-tax income of US$ 268 million, compared to US$ 113 million for the same 12 months in 2012. Revenues stood at US$ 2.67 billion, up +42% year-on-year, and it built 4,184 new homes during the period, up +27% compared to 2012.

"We started full-year 2013 very strong, building on the sales momentum of 2012,” Mr Yearley said. “Buoyed by historic low interest rates and significant pent-up demand, we raised prices and accelerated per-community home sales paces as the housing market continued its recovery.”

And Toll Brothers expects further improvements in 2014 amid a gradual strengthening of the economy and prospects for its affluent customers.

The company is expanding ahead of the forecast increase in demand. In November, it bought the residential construction business of California-based land developer Shapell Industries for US$ 1.6 billion in cash.

"We increased our land position by +20% from one year ago to approximately 48,600 lots, a total that will increase again in coming months when we complete the acquisition of Shapell Homes,” Mr Yearley said.

"As we look forward to FY 2014, we see our revenues and community count growing, margins improving and our profitability increasing."

And executive chairman Robert Toll added, "We believe that Toll Brothers, as well as the other public home building companies, still have significant room for growth.

"The economy, while still improving slowly, is far from fully recovered. National housing starts, although projected to be up in 2013 compared to 2012, will still be well below the average of the last 40 years despite an increased population.”