Lennar Reports First Quarter Results

MIAMI, April 4, 2018 /PRNewswire/ --

• Lennar completed its strategic acquisition of CalAtlantic on February 12, 2018
• Net earnings of $136.2 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, which includes the following:
• $0.31 per diluted share related to acquisition and integration costs
• $0.27 per diluted share related to a one-time non-cash write down of deferred tax assets
• Excluding these items EPS would have been $1.11 per diluted share
• Deliveries of 6,765 homes – up 24%, including 819 homes from acquired CalAtlantic communities
• New orders of 8,456 homes – up 30%; new orders dollar value of $3.4 billion – up 38% including 1,069 homes with a dollar value of $507.9 million from acquired CalAtlantic communities
• Backlog of 17,566 homes – up 95%; backlog dollar value of $7.7 billion – up 118% including 7,190 homes with a dollar value of $3.6 billion from acquired CalAtlantic communities
• Revenues of $3.0 billion – up 28%
• Lennar Homebuilding operating earnings of $413.7 million, compared to $71.3 million
• Gross margin on home sales of 19.5% (21.6% excluding backlog write-up related to purchase accounting), compared to 21.1%
• S,G&A expenses as a % of revenues from home sales of 9.7% – improved 60 basis points
• Operating margin on home sales of 9.8% – improved 100 basis points
• Lennar Homebuilding other income, land sales and equity in loss from unconsolidated entities totaled $154.2 million of pretax income, primarily driven by the sale of an 80% interest in Treasure Island Holdings
• Lennar Financial Services operating earnings of $19.7 million, compared to $20.7 million
• Rialto operating earnings (net of noncontrolling interests) of $10.4 million, compared to $12.0 million
• Lennar Multifamily operating earnings (loss) of ($1.2) million, compared to $19.2 million
• In March 2018, a second Lennar Multifamily Venture was formed with an initial close of $500 million in equity commitments ($255 million committed by Lennar)
• Lennar Homebuilding cash and cash equivalents of $734 million
• Lennar increased its credit facility to $2.6 billion of which $500 million was outstanding at quarter-end
• Lennar Homebuilding debt to total capital, net of cash and cash equivalents, of 42.5%

Lennar Corporation (NYSE: LEN and LEN.B), one of the nation's leading homebuilders, today reported results for its first quarter ended February 28, 2018. First quarter net earnings attributable to Lennar in 2018 were $136.2 million, or $0.53 per diluted share, compared to first quarter net earnings attributable to Lennar in 2017 of $38.1 million, or $0.16 per diluted share. Earnings in the first quarter of 2018 were reduced by $104.2 million ($0.31 per diluted share) of pretax acquisition and integration costs related to the acquisition of CalAtlantic Group, Inc. ("CalAtlantic") and a $68.6 million ($0.27 per diluted share) one-time non-cash write down of deferred tax assets due to the reduction in the federal corporate income tax rate. Earnings in the first quarter of 2017 were reduced by $140 million ($0.39 per diluted share) of pretax Lennar Homebuilding loss due to litigation.

Stuart Miller, Chief Executive Officer of Lennar, said, "As we report our first combined quarterly results with the CalAtlantic strategic acquisition now completed, we remain enthusiastic about both our current results as well as our future projections under the Lennar platform. In the first quarter of 2018, pro forma new orders and deliveries were 10,910 and 9,994, respectively, which exceeded the expectations for both companies. The integration is progressing exactly on target."

Mr. Miller continued, "Our first quarter results begin to display the true power of this combination.  Although these results do not include 2 ½ months of CalAtlantic's operations, all company metrics have performed as expected or better and we have grown more confident in our ability to exceed our $100 million synergy target in 2018 and we are on track to meet our $365 million synergy target in 2019."

"We continue to remain positive on the outlook of the housing industry in general. Although interest rates have ticked up, unemployment remains low, the labor participation rate has been increasing, and wages have been moving modestly higher, though we think, even higher than the data the government captures. Feedback from our new home consultants indicates that our customer base feels confident in both job security and compensation levels in spite of the political noise that abounds."

"Against a backdrop of higher demand, the production shortage over the past years has in fact resulted in supply shortages that are the underpinnings of at least stability and probably continued expansion of this housing recovery."

Mr. Miller concluded, "Strategically, we remain focused on building our homebuilding business with efficiencies and technologies that improve our business model. Additionally, we are continuing to focus on a return to a pure play strategy with greater focus on properly positioning Rialto. In that regard, we have engaged Wells Fargo Securities and Deutsche Bank Securities to advise us regarding strategic alternatives that may be available with regard to our subsidiary, Rialto Capital Management."

 RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

THREE MONTHS ENDED FEBRUARY 28, 2018 COMPARED TO
THREE MONTHS ENDED FEBRUARY 28, 2017

On February 12, 2018, Lennar Corporation completed its acquisition of CalAtlantic. Prior year information includes only stand-alone data for Lennar Corporation for the three months ended February 28, 2017.

Lennar Homebuilding

Revenues from home sales increased 34% in the first quarter of 2018 to $2.6 billion from $2.0 billion in the first quarter of 2017. Revenues were higher primarily due to a 24% increase in the number of home deliveries, excluding unconsolidated entities, and an 8% increase in the average sales price of homes delivered. New home deliveries, excluding unconsolidated entities, increased to 6,734 homes in the first quarter of 2018 from 5,433 homes in the first quarter of 2017. There was an increase in home deliveries in all of the Company's Homebuilding segments and Homebuilding Other as a result of the CalAtlantic acquisition. The average sales price of homes delivered was $393,000 in the first quarter of 2018, compared to $365,000 in the first quarter of 2017. Sales incentives offered to homebuyers were $22,300 per home delivered in the first quarter of 2018, or 5.4% as a percentage of home sales revenue, compared to $22,700 per home delivered in the first quarter of 2017, or 5.9% as a percentage of home sales revenue, and $23,500 per home delivered in the fourth quarter of 2017, or 5.7% as a percentage of home sales revenue.

Gross margins on home sales were $516.6 million, or 19.5%, in the first quarter of 2018. Excluding the backlog write-up of $55.0 million related to purchase accounting adjustments on CalAtlantic homes in backlog and homes completed that were delivered in the first quarter of 2018, gross margins on home sales were $571.7 million or 21.6%. This compared to gross margins on home sales of $419.2 million, or 21.1%, in the first quarter of 2017. Gross margin percentage on home sales increased compared to the first quarter of 2017 primarily due to an increase in the average sales price of homes delivered and increased volume. Losses on land sales were $1.4 million in the three months ended February 28, 2018, compared to gross profits of $2.0 million in the three months ended February 28, 2017.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $257.1 million in the first quarter of 2018, compared to $204.0 million in the first quarter of 2017. As a percentage of revenues from home sales, selling, general and administrative expenses improved to 9.7% in the first quarter of 2018, from 10.3% in the first quarter of 2017, due to improved operating leverage as a result of an increase in home deliveries.

Lennar Homebuilding equity in loss from unconsolidated entities was $14.3 million in the first quarter of 2018, compared to $11.5 million in the first quarter of 2017. In the first quarter of 2018, Lennar Homebuilding equity in loss from unconsolidated entities was primarily attributable to the Company's share of valuation adjustments related to assets of Lennar Homebuilding's unconsolidated entities and the Comany's share of net operating losses from its unconsolidated entities. In the first quarter of 2017, Lennar Homebuilding equity in loss from unconsolidated entities was primarily attributable to the Company's share of net operating losses from its unconsolidated entities, primarily driven by general and administrative expenses, as there were no significant land sale transactions during the first quarter of 2017.

Lennar Homebuilding other income, net, was $169.9 million in the first quarter of 2018, compared to $5.7 million in the first quarter of 2017. Lennar Homebuilding other income, net, in the first quarter of 2018 was primarily related to a gain on the sale of an 80% interest in one of Lennar Homebuilding's strategic joint ventures, Treasure Island Holdings.

Lennar Homebuilding loss due to litigation of $140 million in the first quarter of 2017 was related to litigation regarding a contract the Company entered into in 2005 to purchase a property in Maryland. As a result of the litigation, the Company purchased the property for $114 million, which approximated the Company's estimate of fair value for the property. In addition, the Company paid approximately $124 million in interest and other closing costs and has accrued for the amount it expects to pay as reimbursement for attorney's fees.

Lennar Homebuilding interest expense was $51.2 million in the first quarter of 2018 ($48.3 million was included in costs of homes sold, $0.4 million in costs of land sold and $2.4 million in other income, net), compared to $52.4 million in the first quarter of 2017 ($48.7 million was included in costs of homes sold, $2.4 million in costs of land sold and $1.2 million in other income, net).

Lennar Financial Services

Operating earnings for the Lennar Financial Services segment were $19.7 million in the first quarter of 2018, compared to $20.7 million in the first quarter of 2017. Operating earnings were impacted by a decrease in refinance transactions.

Rialto

Operating earnings for the Rialto segment were $10.4 million in the first quarter of 2018 (which included $9.2 million of operating earnings and an add back of $1.2 million of net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests). Operating earnings in the first quarter of 2017 were $12.0 million (which included a $0.8 million operating loss and an add back of $12.9 million of net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests). The decrease in operating earnings was primarily due to a decrease in Rialto Mortgage Finance ("RMF") securitization revenues as a result of lower volume and a decrease in incentive income related to carried interest distributions from the Rialto real estate funds. These decreases to operating earnings were partially offset by a decrease in real estate owned impairments and lower general and administrative expenses.

Lennar Multifamily

Operating losses for the Lennar Multifamily segment were $1.2 million in the first quarter of 2018, primarily due to general and administrative expenses partially offset by the segment's $4.1 million share of gains as a result of the sale of one operating property by one of Lennar Multifamily's unconsolidated entities and management fee income. In the first quarter of 2017, the Lennar Multifamily segment had operating earnings of $19.2 million primarily due to the segment's $26.0 million share of gains as a result of the sale of two operating properties by Lennar Multifamily's unconsolidated entities.

Corporate General and Administrative Expenses

Corporate general and administrative expenses were $67.8 million, or 2.3% as a percentage of total revenues, in the first quarter of 2018, compared to $60.7 million, or 2.6% as a percentage of total revenues, in the first quarter of 2017. The decrease in corporate general and administrative expenses as a percentage of total revenues is due to improved operating leverage as a result of an increase in home deliveries.

Noncontrolling Interests

Net earnings (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interests were $0.6 million and ($8.4) million in the first quarter of 2018 and 2017, respectively. Net loss attributable to noncontrolling interests in the first quarter of 2017 was primarily attributable to a net loss related to the FDIC's interest in the portfolio of real estate loans that the Company acquired in partnership with the FDIC, partially offset by net earnings related to the Lennar Homebuilding consolidated joint ventures.

OTHER TRANSACTIONS

Merger with CalAtlantic

On February 12, 2018, the Company completed the acquisition of CalAtlantic through a transaction in which CalAtlantic was merged with and into a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company ("Merger Sub"), with Merger Sub continuing as the surviving corporation and a subsidiary of the Company (the "Merger"). The Merger took place pursuant to the Agreement and Plan of Merger dated as of October 29, 2017, among CalAtlantic, the Company and Merger Sub. CalAtlantic is a homebuilder which builds homes across the homebuilding spectrum, from entry level to luxury, in 43 metropolitan statistical areas spanning 19 states. CalAtlantic provides mortgage, title and escrow services. For the three months ended February 28, 2018, our results of operations included 819 home deliveries at an average sales price of $456,000, and net new orders of 1,069 homes at an average sales price of $475,000 from acquired CalAtlantic communities. During the three months ended February 28, 2018, the Company recorded $104.2 million of acquisition and integration costs related to the Merger.

A Second Lennar Multifamily Venture Formed

In March 2018, the Lennar Multifamily segment completed the closing of a second Lennar Multifamily Venture II LP ("Venture II") for the development, construction and property management of class-A multifamily assets. With the first close, Venture II will have approximately $500 million of equity commitments, including a $255 million co-investment commitment by us comprised of cash, undeveloped land and preacquisition costs. It will be seeded with 6 undeveloped multifamily assets that were previously purchased or under contract by the Lennar Multifamily segment totaling approximately 2,200 apartments with projected project costs of approximately $900 million.

Debt Transactions

In February 2018, the Company exchanged in part eight notes issued by CalAtlantic into new notes issued by the company maturing between 2018 and 2027 with a total principal amount of $2.8 billion.

In March 2018, holders of $6.7 million principal amount of CalAtlantic's 1.625% convertible senior notes due 2018 and $266.2 million principal amount of CalAtlantic's 0.25% convertible senior notes due 2019 either caused the Company to purchase them for cash or converted them into a combination of the Company's Class A and Class B common stock and cash, resulting in the Company's issuing approximately 3,654,000 shares of Class A common stock and 72,000 shares of Class B common stock, and paying $51.2 million in cash to former noteholders.

Credit Facility

In February 2018, the Company amended the credit agreement governing its unsecured revolving credit facility (the "Credit Facility") to increase the maximum borrowings from $2.0 billion to $2.6 billion and extend the maturity on $2.1 billion of the Credit Facility from June 2022 to April 2023. The $2.6 billion includes an accordion feature, subject to additional commitments. As of February 28, 2018, there was $500 million of outstanding borrowings under the Credit Facility.

Tax Reform

In December 2017, the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act was enacted which will have a positive impact on our effective tax rate in 2018 and subsequent years. The tax reform bill reduced our expected effective tax rate in 2018 from 34% to 24%, which is lower than the Company's previous guidance of 25% primarily due to tax legislation enacted during the quarter extending the energy efficent home credit retroactively for homes closed during 2017. However, as a result of the reduction in our effective tax rate, during the three months ended February 28, 2018, we were required to record a one-time non-cash write down of our deferred tax assets of $68.6 million. Due to this, for the three months ended February 28, 2018, the Company's effective tax rate was 49.3%, instead of 23.8%. This compared to 34.4% for the three months ended February 28, 2017.

About Lennar

Lennar Corporation, founded in 1954, is one of the nation's leading builders of quality homes for all generations. The Company builds affordable, move-up and active adult homes primarily under the Lennar brand name. Lennar's Financial Services segment provides mortgage financing, title insurance and closing services for both buyers of Lennar's homes and others. Lennar's Rialto segment is a vertically integrated asset management platform focused on investing throughout the commercial real estate capital structure. Lennar's Multifamily segment is a nationwide developer of high-quality multifamily rental properties. Previous press releases and further information about the Company may be obtained at the "Investor Relations" section of the Company's website, www.lennar.com.

Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements: Some of the statements in this press release are "forward-looking statements," as that term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, including statements regarding CalAtlantic integration and the anticipated synergy benefits from the CalAtlantic transaction, the homebuilding market and other markets in which we participate, and our belief regarding how we are positioned to take advantage of opportunities, or to avoid problems, in those markets and to advance the future growth of our businesses. You can identify forward-looking statements by the fact that these statements do not relate strictly to historical or current matters. Rather, forward-looking statements relate to anticipated or expected events, activities, trends or results. Accordingly, these forward-looking statements should be evaluated with consideration given to the many risks and uncertainties inherent in our business that could cause actual results and events to differ materially from those anticipated by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause such differences include increases in operating costs, including costs related to real estate taxes, construction materials, labor and insurance, and our ability to manage our cost structure, both in our Lennar Homebuilding and Lennar Multifamily businesses; a slowdown in the real estate markets across the nation, including a slowdown in the market for single family homes or the multifamily rental market; unfavorable losses in legal proceedings; decreased demand for our homes or Lennar Multifamily rental properties, and our inability to successfully sell our apartments; natural disasters or catastrophic events for which our insurance may not provide adequate coverage; our ability to successfully execute our strategies; a decline in the value of the land and home inventories we maintain or possible future write-downs of the carrying value of our real estate assets; our inability to realize the anticipated synergy benefits from the CalAtlantic transaction; the inability of the Rialto segment to profit from the investments it makes; the inability of Rialto to sell mortgages it originates into securitizations on favorable terms; reduced availability of mortgage financing or increased interest rates; conditions in the capital, credit and financial markets; changes in laws, regulations or the regulatory environment affecting our business, and the risks described in our filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including our Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended November 30, 2017. We undertake no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or otherwise.

A conference call to discuss the Company's first quarter earnings will be held at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, April 4, 2018. The call will be broadcast live on the Internet and can be accessed through the Company's website at www.lennar.com. If you are unable to participate in the conference call, the call will be archived at www.lennar.com for 90 days. A replay of the conference call will also be available later that day by calling 402-220-5359 and entering 5723593 as the confirmation number.

Lennar's reportable homebuilding segments and all other homebuilding operations not required to be reported separately have divisions located in:

East: Florida, Georgia, Maryland, New Jersey, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia
Central: Arizona, Colorado and Texas
West: California and Nevada
Other: Illinois, Indiana, Minnesota, Oregon, Tennessee, Utah and Washington

SOURCE Lennar Corporation