Man, hope everybody takes time to read the "Las Vegas story", kind of says it all.
Meanwhile:
Lennar warns on 4th-quarter home deliveries
Thu Nov 4, 2004 10:35 AM ET
(CHICAGO, Nov 4 (Reuters) - Home builder Lennar Corp. (LEN.N: Quote, Profile, Research) on Thursday warned that about 600 home deliveries scheduled for the fourth quarter could be delayed into fiscal 2005 due to weakness in the key Southern California and Las Vegas markets and other factors.
The Miami-based company's shares fell 2.4 percent in early trading, and the news dragged down the entire sector as the Dow Jones U.S. Home Construction index fell 2 percent.
Lennar blamed hurricane activity in Florida affecting new orders and production, electrical connection and production delays in Las Vegas, and softer market conditions in Southern California and Las Vegas.
The homebuilding industry "has remained strong," but the company could not yet quantify the impact of these delays on its fourth-quarter results as it is still paring down assets in land and joint-venture activities.
Analysts expect Lennar to post a profit of $2.24 a share before one-time items for the fiscal fourth quarter, which began Sept. 1, according to Reuters Estimates. They expect the company to earn $6.38 a share in fiscal 2005, which begins in February.
In September, Lennar said new home orders in the third quarter rose only 1 percent as it deliberately slowed orders to catch up on the backlog of existing orders awaiting construction. It added that its ability to raise prices in some markets, such as the lucrative Southern California housing market, had weakened.
Lennar, which raised its 2004 and 2005 profit outlooks that month, also said then that it expected to feel the brunt of the hurricane-caused delays, and higher transportation and material costs in the fourth quarter and next fiscal year.
It previously raised its earnings forecast for fiscal 2004 by 20 cents to $5.70 a share, and for fiscal 2005 by 60 cents to $6.60 a share.
Thursday's warning came ahead of the company's appearance at a UBS building and building products conference.
Lennar shares were down $1.07 at $43.94 on the New York Stock Exchange on Thursday morning.
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