William Lyon Homes : Reports Second Quarter 2015 Results

William Lyon Homes (NYSE: WLH), a leading homebuilder in the Western U.S., announced results for its 2015 second quarter ended June 30, 2015.

2015 Second Quarter Highlights (Comparison to 2014 Second Quarter)

• Net income available to common stockholders of $12.3 million, or $0.32 per diluted share
• Net new home orders of 843, up 117%
• Dollar value of orders of $374.1 million, up 91%
• Home sales revenue of $247.7 million, up 47%
• Consolidated revenue of $254.7 million, up 42%
• New home deliveries of 553 homes, up 65%
• Average sales locations of 67, up 76%
• Dollar value of homes in backlog of $471.5 million, up 55%
• Average sales price (ASP) of new homes delivered of $448,000
• Homebuilding gross margin of $47.5 million, up 19%
• Homebuilding gross margin percentage of 19.2%
• Adjusted homebuilding gross margin percentage of 26.0%
• SG&A percentage of 11.4%, compared to 11.9%
• Adjusted EBITDA of $38.8 million, up 46%

“Our second quarter results have demonstrated strong business momentum and execution as we benefitted from a healthy spring selling season and our expanded geographic footprint,” said William H. Lyon, Co-Chief Executive Officer. “We recorded significant year-over-year increases across a number of key operational metrics, including home sales revenue, the unit and dollar value of orders and backlog, and the number of active selling communities. For the quarter ended June 30, 2015, we generated net income of $12.3 million, or $0.32 per diluted share. Positive demographics and employment growth in our markets in excess of the national average are both leading to solid demand against a backdrop of limited supply.”

Matthew R. Zaist, Co-Chief Executive Officer and President, stated, “We are very proud of the execution of our operating teams during the second quarter. Net new home orders more than doubled to 843, the highest total since the second quarter of 2005, averaging a monthly absorption rate of 4.2 orders per project, up 23% from a rate of 3.4 in the second quarter of 2014, and up 17%, sequentially, from a rate of 3.6 in the first quarter of 2015. Our July sales continued our year-over-year improvement trends, with net orders up 130% and monthly absorption rates up 30% year-over-year.”

Operating Results

Home sales revenue for the second quarter of 2015 was $247.7 million, as compared to $168.2 million in the year-ago period, an increase of 47%. Our performance was driven by a 65% increase in the number of deliveries to 553 homes, compared to 336 homes delivered in the second quarter of 2014. Average sales price of homes delivered was $448,000 in the quarter, compared to $500,500 in the year-ago period. The decline in ASP reflects changes in geographic and product mix.

The dollar value of orders for the second quarter of 2015 was $374.1 million, an increase of 91%, from $195.4 million in the year-ago period. Net new home orders for the quarter more than doubled to 843, from 388 in the second quarter of 2014. The overall increase in net new home orders was primarily driven by an increase in community count to 67 average sales locations, from 38 in the year-ago period, and an increase in the monthly absorption rate from 3.4 sales per month per project in the second quarter of 2014 to 4.2 sales per month in the current period.

The dollar value of homes in backlog was $471.5 million as of June 30, 2015, an increase of 55% compared to $303.3 million as of June 30, 2014. The increase was driven by a 78% increase in units in backlog to 968 from 544 in the year-ago period.

Adjusted homebuilding gross margin percentage was 26.0% during the second quarter of 2015. Homebuilding gross margins for the quarter were 19.2%. In conjunction with the adoption of purchase accounting related to the Polygon acquisition, GAAP margins were impacted by approximately 330 basis points during the quarter.

SG&A expense during the second quarter of 2015 was 11.4% of homebuilding revenue, compared with 11.9% in the year-ago quarter. Breaking down the components of SG&A, sales and marketing expense was 6.0% of homebuilding revenue during the quarter, compared to 5.3% in the year-ago quarter, driven primarily by higher outside broker expenses, compared to the prior year period. General administrative expenses decreased to 5.4% of homebuilding revenue, compared to 6.6% in the year-ago quarter, as we continued to leverage off of a larger operating platform with a lower relative cost structure.

Balance Sheet Update

At quarter end, cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash totaled $61.1 million, escrow proceeds receivable totaled $8.3 million, real estate inventories totaled $1.6 billion, total assets were $1.8 billion and total equity was $618.8 million. Net debt to net book capitalization was 61.9%, and total debt to total book capitalization was 63.3% at June 30, 2015.

Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call to discuss these results today, Friday, August 7, 2015 at 9:00 a.m. Pacific Time. The call will be available via both the telephone at (855) 851-4524 or (720) 634-2900, passcode #88709997, or through the Company’s website at www.lyonhomes.com in the Investor Relations section of the site. A replay of the call will be available through August 14, 2015 by dialing (855) 859-2056 or (404) 537-3406, passcode #88709997. A webcast replay of the call will also be available on the Company’s website approximately two hours after the broadcast.

About William Lyon Homes

William Lyon Homes is one of the largest Western U.S. regional homebuilders. Headquartered in Newport Beach, California, the Company is primarily engaged in the design, construction, marketing and sale of single-family detached and attached homes in California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Washington and Oregon. Its core markets include Orange County, Los Angeles, San Diego, the San Francisco Bay Area, Phoenix, Las Vegas, Denver, Seattle and Portland. The Company has a distinguished legacy of more than 59 years of homebuilding operations, over which time it has sold in excess of 94,000 homes. The Company markets and sells its homes under the William Lyon Homes brand in all of its markets except for Colorado, where the Company operates under the Village Homes brand, and Washington and Oregon, where the Company operates under the Polygon Northwest brand.

Financial data included herein includes the Washington and Oregon operations from January 1, 2015 through June 30, 2015. There were no operations in the Company’s Washington and Oregon divisions for the three and six months ended June 30, 2014; therefore, period-over-period comparisons for Washington and Oregon are not meaningful (“NM”) as indicated in the comparative tables in the schedules attached to this release.

Certain statements contained in this release and the accompanying comments during our conference call that are not historical information contain forward-looking statements, including, but not limited to, statements related to: market and industry trends, the anticipated financial and operating results from execution of the Company’s growth strategy and focus on markets in the Western United States, the continued housing market recovery, expected community count growth, anticipated operating results for the third quarter of 2015, anticipated ASP, expected SG&A percentage, gross margins, future cash needs and liquidity, leverage ratios and backlog conversion rates. The forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties and actual results may differ materially from those projected or implied. The Company makes no commitment, and disclaims any duty, to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or changes in these expectations. Further, certain forward-looking statements are based on assumptions of future events which may not prove to be accurate. Factors that may impact such forward-looking statements include, among others: our ability to realize the anticipated benefits from the acquisition of Polygon Northwest; our ability to integrate successfully the Polygon Northwest operation with our existing operations; worsening in general economic conditions either internationally, nationally or in regions in which we operate; conditions in our newly entered markets and newly acquired operations; worsening in markets for residential housing; decline in real estate values resulting in impairment of our real estate assets; volatility in the banking industry and credit markets; uncertainties in the capital and securities markets; terrorism or other hostilities involving the United States; building moratorium or “slow-growth” or “no-growth” initiatives that could be implemented in states in which we operate; whether an ownership change occurred that could, under certain circumstances, have resulted in the limitation of our ability to offset prior years’ taxable income with net operating losses; changes in mortgage and other interest rates; conditions in the capital, credit and financial markets, including mortgage lending standards and the availability of mortgage financing; changes in generally accepted accounting principles or interpretations of those principles; changes in prices of homebuilding materials; the availability of labor and homebuilding materials; adverse weather conditions, including the continued drought in California; competition for home sales from other sellers of new and resale homes; cancellations and our ability to realize our backlog; the occurrence of events such as landslides, soil subsidence and earthquakes that are uninsurable, not economically insurable or not subject to effective indemnification agreements; changes in governmental laws and regulations; our financial leverage and level of indebtedness and any inability to comply with financial and other covenants under our debt instruments; whether we are able to refinance the outstanding balances of our debt obligations at their maturity; anticipated tax refunds; limitations on our ability to utilize our tax attributes; limitations on our ability to reverse any remaining portion of our valuation allowance with respect to our deferred tax assets; the timing of receipt of regulatory approvals and the opening of projects; the impact of construction defect, product liability and home warranty claims, including the adequacy of self-insurance accruals, and the applicability and sufficiency of our insurance coverage; the availability and cost of land for future development; and additional factors discussed under the sections captioned “Risk Factors” included in our annual and quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The foregoing list is not exhaustive. New risk factors may emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors or to assess the impact of such risk factors on our business.

(1) For the periods presented, the Company is reporting in six segments: California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Washington and Oregon.

(2) Adjusted homebuilding gross margin is a financial measure that is not prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP. It is used by management in evaluating operating performance and in making strategic decisions regarding sales pricing, construction and development pace, product mix and other operating decisions. We believe this information is meaningful as it isolates the impact that interest and purchase accounting adjustments have on homebuilding gross margin and allows investors to make better comparisons with our competitors.

(1) For the periods presented, the Company is reporting in six segments: California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Washington and Oregon.

(2) Adjusted homebuilding gross margin is a financial measure that is not prepared in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, or U.S. GAAP. It is used by management in evaluating operating performance and in making strategic decisions regarding sales pricing, construction and development pace, product mix and other operating decisions. We believe this information is meaningful as it isolates the impact that interest and purchase accounting adjustments have on homebuilding gross margin and allows investors to make better comparisons with our competitors.

(1) Adjusted EBITDA means net income (loss) attributable to William Lyon Homes plus (i) provision for income taxes, (ii) interest expense, (iii) amortization of capitalized interest included in cost of sales, (iv) stock based compensation, (v) depreciation and amortization, (vi) non-cash purchase accounting adjustments, (vii) cash distributions of income from unconsolidated joint ventures, and (viii) equity in income of unconsolidated joint ventures. Other companies may calculate adjusted EBITDA differently. Adjusted EBITDA is not a financial measure prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP. Adjusted EBITDA is presented herein because management believes the presentation of adjusted EBITDA provides useful information to the Company’s investors regarding the Company’s financial condition and results of operations because adjusted EBITDA is a widely utilized indicator of a company's operating performance. Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered as an alternative for net (loss) income, cash flows from operating activities and other consolidated income or cash flow statement data prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States or as a measure of profitability or liquidity. A reconciliation of net income attributable to William Lyon Homes to adjusted EBITDA is provided in the following table:

(2) Calculated as Adjusted EBITDA as a percentage of operating revenue.

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