Taylor Morrison reports Q1 net income of US$41.2M, up from US$24.3M a year earlier, on revenues up 36.1% to US$519.2M; CEO cites company's strategic focus on move-up buyers, land acquisition and development strategy

Allison Oesterle

SCOTTSDALE, Arizona , May 7, 2014 (press release) – Diluted earnings per share of $0.33 on net income of $41.2 million an increase of 70% year-over-year

Home closings revenue increased 36.6% to $500.8 million

Consolidated average home closing price and U.S. average home closings price increased 19% and 22%, respectively

Performance reflects strength of opportunistic land acquisition strategy

Taylor Morrison Home Corporation (the “Company” or “Taylor Morrison”) (NYSE: TMHC) announced today financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2014. Diluted earnings per share was $0.33 on net income for the quarter of $41.2 million.

“We had a great start to the year, building upon strong results in 2013,” said Sheryl Palmer, President and CEO. “The excellent results achieved again this quarter, we believe, are due to our strategic focus on the move-up buyer, our land acquisition and development strategy that enables greater financial flexibility and our ability to execute efficiently in both our U.S. and Canadian operations. Our recently announced joint venture with Oaktree Capital Management and TPG to acquire the Marblehead development in San Clemente, California further highlights our opportunistic land acquisition strategy.”

Community count increased 20.6% to 202 from 167 in the first quarter of last year, driven by a strong increase in U.S. operations. Net sales orders were relatively flat at 1,662 in the first quarter of 2014 compared to the prior year quarter at 1,681. Net sales orders in the Company’s U.S. operations decreased 2.3%, partially offset by a 12.1% sales order improvement in the Company’s Canadian operations. The Company’s overall monthly absorption pace was 2.7 net sales orders per community in the first quarter of 2014 compared to 2.2 in the fourth quarter of 2013. Our average selling price for homes under contract in the first quarter of 2014 increased 17.1% over the same quarter last year.

The Company’s U.S. backlog of homes under contract was 2,625 homes with a sales value of $1.3 billion as of March 31, 2014 compared with 2,506 homes with a sales value of $993.0 million as of March 31, 2013 representing a 21.4% increase in average selling price in backlog.

The first quarter 2014 cancellation rate, representing cancelled sales orders divided by gross sales orders, decreased to 10.6% in first quarter of 2014, compared to 11.1% in the first quarter of 2013. The Company’s sales order backlog of homes under contract decreased 9.9% to 3,490 homes with a sales value of $1.5 billion as of March 31, 2014, compared with 3,872 homes with a sales value of $1.4 billion as of March 31, 2013. The March 31, 2013 backlog included 421 wholly-owned high-rise units, which closed later in 2013, resulting in timing fluctuations in the backlog.

Home closings revenue totaled $500.8 million in the first quarter of 2014, benefiting from an approximately 15% increase in homes closed, from 1,012 in the 2013 quarter to 1,160 during the 2014 quarter. The consolidated average home closing price increased by 19.1% to $431,758, while the average home closing price in the U.S. increased by 21.9% to $431,559 year-over-year. Adjusted home closings gross margin, which excludes capitalized interest increased 20 basis points to 23.6% in the first quarter of 2014, as compared to the first quarter of 2013. Home closings gross margin dollars increased by 37.5% to $107.2 million in the 2014 first quarter as compared to the prior year quarter. Home closings gross margin in the first quarter of 2014 increased to 21.4%, compared to 21.2% in the first quarter of 2013.

The Company’s financial services operations reported a gross profit of $2.3 million on revenue of $6.3 million for the quarter.

Selling, general and administrative expenses were $57.5 million, or 11.5% of home closings revenue for the 2014 first quarter compared to $46.3 million, or 12.6% of home closings revenue, for the first quarter of 2013. Equity in income of unconsolidated entities, which represents the Company’s investments in homebuilding joint ventures, was $2.6 million in the first quarter of 2014, compared to $3.2 million in the first quarter of 2013.

The Company ended the first quarter of 2014 with $433.0 million of cash, not including $17.9 million of restricted cash. During the first quarter of 2014, the Company issued $350 million in 5.625% senior unsecured notes due in 2024. Homebuilding inventories at the end of the 2014 first quarter totaled $2.5 billion. The Company owned and controlled nearly 45,000 lots at March 31, 2014 compared with approximately 45,100 lots at March 31, 2013.

Guidance and Outlook

“Our guidance for fiscal year 2014 remains unchanged,” said Dave Cone, Vice President and Chief Financial Officer. “We anticipate community count to increase 25% to 30% with a 15% to 20% increase in closings. Home closings margin is expected to be flat relative to 2013 with accretion expected in the U.S. operations offset by the decline in the Canadian home closings margin. SG&A is expected to be under 10% as a percentage of homebuilding revenue for the year. Income from unconsolidated joint ventures is expected to be between $16 million and $20 million.”

For the second quarter of 2014, community count growth is anticipated to increase by 20% to 25% and closings to be flat year-over-year. Income from unconsolidated joint ventures is anticipated to be between $5 million and $6 million.

Earnings Conference Call

A conference call to discuss our first quarter 2014 earnings will be held at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time on Wednesday, May 7, 2014. The call will be broadcast live on the Internet and can be accessed through the Company’s website at www.taylormorrison.com. If you are unable to participate in the conference call, the call will be archived at www.taylormorrison.com for 30 days. A replay of the conference call will also be available later today by calling 1 (888) 843-7419 or 1 (630) 652-3042 and the confirmation number is 3703 6249.

About Taylor Morrison

Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, Taylor Morrison Home Corporation (NYSE:TMHC) operates in the U.S. under the Taylor Morrison and Darling Homes brands and in Canada under the Monarch brand. Taylor Morrison is a builder and developer of single-family detached and attached homes, serving a wide array of customers including first-time, move-up, luxury and active adult customers. Taylor Morrison divisions operate in Arizona, California, Colorado, Florida and Texas. Darling Homes serves move-up and luxury homebuyers in Texas. Monarch, Canada’s oldest homebuilder, builds homes for first-time and move-up buyers in Toronto and Ottawa as well as high rise condominiums in Toronto.

For more information about Taylor Morrison, Darling Homes or Monarch, please visit www.taylormorrison.com, www.darlinghomes.com and www.monarchgroup.net.

Forward-Looking Statements

This earnings summary includes "forward-looking statements." These statements are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and other factors that could cause our actual results, performance, prospects or opportunities, as well as those of the markets we serve or intend to serve, to differ materially from those expressed in, or implied by, these statements. You can identify these statements by the fact that they do not relate to matters of a strictly factual or historical nature and generally discuss or relate to forecasts, estimates or other expectations regarding future events. Generally, the words "believe," "expect," "intend," "estimate," "anticipate," "project," "may," "can," "could," "might," "will" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements, including statements related to expected operating and performing results, planned transactions, planned objectives of management, future developments or conditions in the industries in which we participate and other trends, developments and uncertainties that may affect our business in the future.

Such risks, uncertainties and other factors include, among other things: interest rate changes and the availability of mortgage financing; continued volatility in the debt and equity markets; competition within the industries in which Taylor Morrison operates; the availability and cost of land and other raw materials used by Taylor Morrison in its homebuilding operations; the impact of any changes to our strategy in responding to continuing adverse conditions in the industry, including any changes regarding our land positions; the availability and cost of insurance covering risks associated with Taylor Morrison's businesses; shortages and the cost of labor; weather related slowdowns; slow growth initiatives and/or local building moratoria; governmental regulation directed at or affecting the housing market, the homebuilding industry or construction activities; uncertainty in the mortgage lending industry, including revisions to underwriting standards and repurchase requirements associated with the sale of mortgage loans; the interpretation of or changes to tax, labor and environmental laws; economic changes nationally or in Taylor Morrison's local markets, including inflation, deflation, changes in consumer confidence and preferences and the state of the market for homes in general; legal or regulatory proceedings or claims; required accounting changes; terrorist acts and other acts of war; and other factors of national, regional and global scale, including those of a political, economic, business and competitive nature. Taylor Morrison undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or changes in Taylor Morrison's expectations. In addition, other such risks and uncertainties may be found in Taylor Morrison Home Corporation’s Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

The following tables set forth a reconciliation between the Company’s home closings gross margin and adjusted home closings gross margin. Adjusted home closings gross margin is a non-GAAP financial measure calculated based on gross margins, excluding impairments and capitalized interest amortization. Management uses adjusted home closings gross margins to evaluate the Company’s performance on a consolidated basis as well as the performance of the Company’s regions. The Company believes adjusted gross margin is relevant and useful to investors for evaluating the Company’s performance. This measure is considered a non-GAAP financial measure and should be considered in addition to, rather than as a substitute for, the comparable U.S. GAAP financial measure as a measure of the Company’s operating performance. Although other companies in the homebuilding industry report similar information, the methods used may differ. The Company urges investors to understand the methods used by other companies in the homebuilding industry to calculate net income and gross margins and any adjustments to such amounts before comparing the Company’s measures to those of such other companies.

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