Standard Pacific ends 2012 with sufficient land, cash of $365 million; homebuilding debt up 16%

By Lisa Kerner

Charlotte, N.C., Feb. 1 - Standard Pacific Corp. chief executive officer and president Scott Stowell said that despite mixed economic signals, the company saw a "meaningful demand" in its markets during the year.

Net new orders were up 60% for the quarter and 44% for the year, while the dollar value of homes in backlog increased 122% to $515.5 million, or 1,404 homes.

Stowell made his comments on Friday during a conference call to discuss the Irvine, Calif.-based homebuilder's fourth-quarter and full-year 2012 earnings results.

"After navigating an unprecedented and what seemed at times endless economic downturn, we saw significant market improvement during 2012," Stowell said.

Standard Pacific reported net income of $487 million or $1.22 per diluted share for the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31.

This compares to about $15 million, or $0.04 per diluted share, for the prior-year period.

For the full year, Standard Pacific had net income of $531.4 million, or $1.44 per diluted share, versus a net loss of $16.4 million, or $0.05 per share, for the full year 2011.

Homebuilding debt at year end was about $1.5 billion, up 16% from 2011.

The company ended the year with a cash balance of more than $365 million, plus additional amounts available on an unsecured revolving credit facility

According to Stowell, the company is committed to the third prong of its strategy, which is to leverage its stable platform for growth, which includes allocating capital to attractive markets.

"We have the land we need for the near term," the CEO said.

In the quarter, Standard Pacific spent about $268 million on land purchases and development costs, up from about $86 million during the prior-year period. Almost half of the land purchases, 49%, were in Florida.

Not including these costs, cash inflows from operating activities for the 2012 fourth quarter were $155.6 million versus $74.3 million in the 2011 fourth quarter.

The increase was attributed primarily to a 29% increase in home sale revenues, which topped $377 million for the period, according to the earnings news release.

Standard Pacific spent about $542 million for the year ended Dec. 31, with the highest percentage spent on homesites in California.

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