Lennar posts profit but orders down 10 percent
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Homebuilder Lennar Corp <LEN.N> reported a quarterly profit versus a year-ago loss, but orders fell and its shares were down 1.6 percent in premarket trading.
Lennar posted earnings of $39.7 million, or 21 cents a share, for the second quarter ended May 31, compared with a loss of $125.2 million, or 76 cents per share, a year earlier.
Orders fell 10 percent, with the entire decline coming in May after the federal homebuyer tax credit expired, the company said.
"During the second quarter, we continued to see a housing market that was trying to stabilize," Chief Executive Stuart Miller said in a statement. "As expected, this stabilization was impacted by the expiration of the federal homebuyer tax credit at the end of April."
Revenue fell 9 percent to $814.5 million.
The company recorded a tax benefit of $11 million in the quarter.
Lennar shares were down 1.6 percent at $14.50 in premarket trading.
Miami-based Lennar is the third-largest U.S. homebuilder, with operations in 14 states.
(Reporting by Helen Chernikoff; editing by John Wallace)
