NVR Inc. quarterly profit jumps 45%

[HenryTo]

Still no signs of a slowdown as yet:
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NVR Inc. quarterly profit jumps 45%
Company beats expectations, ups guidance on backlog
By John Spence, MarketWatch
Last Update: 10:17 AM ET July 19, 2005

BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- NVR Inc. on Tuesday morning said second-quarter net income increased 45% and raised its earnings guidance on strong new home orders, prices and backlog.

The Reston, Va.-based homebuilding and mortgage-banking company said quarterly profit was $167.6 million, or $21.42 a share, compared with $116 million, or $14.82 a share in the year-ago period.

Three analysts polled by Thomson First Call had expected per-share earnings of $18.30, with the estimates ranging from $17.76 and $19.36.

The company said homebuilding revenue increased 28% from last year to $1.3 billion, and that gross profit margins were up 27.8% on higher home prices.

New orders increased 21% to 4,829 units, while the company's backlog was 13% higher than last year to 9,554 units.

The value of the company's backlog jumped 31% from the previous year to $4 billion, NVR said.

The company said that it repurchased about 506,000 shares of its common stock during the first half of 2005.

NVR (NVR: news, chart, profile) raised its earnings guidance for 2005 on the strength of the company's backlog, saying it expects net income to be 20% higher than 2004.

The company had previously forecast earnings to be 15% higher than last year. In 2004 the company said net income was $523.2 million, or $66.42 a share.

For 2005, analysts polled by Thomson First Call see NVR earnings of $79.76 a share.

Shares of NVR gained 1.8% to $818 in early dealings Tuesday.