Florida-Based Homebuilder Reports First Quarter Profitability

Florida-based Lennar Corp. released its fiscal first quarter results Tuesday, reporting net earnings of $27.4 million.

Stuart Miller, Lennars president and CEO, said in a company statement:

"We are pleased to report EPS of $0.14 for our first fiscal quarter of 2011, making this our fourth consecutive quarter of profitability.

"We remained focused on the core fundamentals of our business, generating profitable results in each of our business segments. Our homebuilding segment continued to produce strong gross margins, benefiting from our intense focus on controlling construction costs and opening new high margin communities. Although S,G&A expenses increased as a percentage of revenues from home sales, they continued to decline in absolute dollars. Our Rialto segment continued to produce healthy profits, generating $11.0 million of operating earnings in the first quarter.

"Our strong balance sheet and significant liquidity puts us in an excellent position to purchase new strategic high margin land deals for our homebuilding business and distressed opportunities for our Rialto business. While it is unclear whether the spring selling season will gain momentum or continue its sluggish recovery, we are confident that our company is well positioned for a profitable year in 2011."

Lennar is headquartered in Miami and builds homes in 17 states.