PHM PulteGroup Inc

ATLANTA, July 23, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM) announced today financial results for its second quarter ended June 30, 2015.  For the quarter, the Company reported net income of $103 million, or $0.28 per share, including a pretax benefit of $27 million, or $0.05 per share, resulting from a legal settlement in the period.  Prior year net income of $42 million, or $0.11 per share, included pretax charges of $88 million, or $0.14 per share, for insurance reserves and office relocation costs.

"We are very pleased with market conditions as solid buyer demand helped to drive an 11% increase in the value of new orders to $1.8 billion, our highest quarterly order value since 2007," said Richard J. Dugas, Jr., Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of PulteGroup.  "Within this positive demand environment, we continue to demonstrate disciplined capital allocation consistent with our Value Creation strategy by growing our land and community pipeline, while simultaneously paying down $238 million of debt and returning $243 million to shareholders through share repurchases and dividends.

"Demand trends experienced throughout the first half of 2015 demonstrate that the recovery in U.S. housing remains on track and continues to be supported by an improving economy, better employment, rising consumer confidence and a low interest rate environment.  With our strong margins and a backlog of almost 9,000 sold homes to be built, PulteGroup is extremely well positioned to capitalize on these favorable conditions and continue delivering outstanding financial results in the coming quarters."

Second Quarter Results

Home sale revenues for the second quarter totaled $1.2 billion, which is unchanged from the prior year.  Revenues for the period reflect a 1% increase in average selling price to $332,000, offset by a 1% decrease in closings to 3,744 homes.

The Company's second quarter home sale gross margin was 23.3%, an increase of 60 basis points from the first quarter of 2015 and a decrease of 30 basis points from the comparable prior year period.  Homebuilding SG&A expense for the quarter was $130 million, or 10.5% of home sale revenues, compared with $230 million, or 18.4% last year.  Second quarter 2015 SG&A includes a benefit of $27 million relating to a legal settlement, whereas prior year SG&A included charges of $88 million for insurance reserves and office relocation costs.

The value of net new orders for the second quarter increased 11% to $1.8 billion.  On a unit basis, net new orders for the period increased 7% to 5,118 homes.  The Company operated out of 630 communities in the quarter, an increase of 7% from the second quarter of 2014.

PulteGroup's quarter-end backlog was 8,998 homes valued at $3.1 billion, compared with a prior year backlog of 8,179 homes with a value of $2.8 billion.  The average price of homes in backlog was $343,000 which is up 1% over last year and up 3% from the average selling price of homes delivered in the second quarter.

The Company's financial services operations reported second quarter pretax income of $10 million compared with $9 million in 2014.  Mortgage capture rate for the quarter was 83%, compared with 80% in the prior year.

During the quarter, PulteGroup repurchased 10.7 million shares of common stock for $213 million, or an average price of $19.90 per share.  The Company also used available cash to retire $238 million of bonds which matured during the second quarter.  The Company ended the period with $478 million of cash.

A conference call discussing PulteGroup's second quarter 2015 results is scheduled for Thursday, July 23, 2015, at 8:30 a.m. Eastern Time.  Interested investors can access the live webcast via PulteGroup's corporate website at www.pultegroupinc.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release 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 PulteGroup operates; the availability and cost of land and other raw materials used by PulteGroup in its homebuilding operations; the impact of any changes to our strategy in responding to the cyclical nature of the industry, including any changes regarding our land positions; the availability and cost of insurance covering risks associated with PulteGroup'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 PulteGroup'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.  See PulteGroup's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2014, and other public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") for a further discussion of these and other risks and uncertainties applicable to our businesses.  PulteGroup undertakes no duty to update any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future events or changes in PulteGroup's expectations.

About PulteGroup

PulteGroup, Inc. (NYSE: PHM), based in Atlanta, GA, is one of America's largest homebuilding companies with operations in approximately 50 markets throughout the country.  Through its brand portfolio that includes Centex, Pulte Homes, Del Webb and DiVosta Homes, the Company is one of the industry's most versatile homebuilders able to meet the needs of multiple buyer groups and respond to changing consumer demand.  PulteGroup conducts extensive research to provide homebuyers with innovative solutions and consumer inspired homes and communities to make lives better.

For more information about PulteGroup, Inc. and PulteGroup brands, go to www.pultegroupinc.com; www.pulte.com; www.centex.com; www.delwebb.com and www.divosta.com.

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SOURCE PulteGroup, Inc.