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Ryland Group Beats Street

Ryland Group Inc. reported fourth-quarter and full-year earnings on Thursday that beat Wall Street estimates as the company benefited from higher home sales and pricing. The Westlake Village homebuilder announced net income of $71.7 million ($1.26 a share) for the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared to $72.2 million ($1.25) for the same quarter last year. Revenue increased 25 percent to $854 million. Analysts on average expected net income of 96 cents on revenue of $784 million, according to Thomson Financial Network. The company said new orders in the quarter rose 8.3 percent to 1,547 units, generating 14.3 percent higher sales revenue of $537 million. Closings rose 14.3 percent to 2,489 units, with the average price up 7.6 percent to $338,000. For the full year, Ryland had net income of $176 million ($3.09 a share) compared to $379 million ($6.79) for the previous year. Revenue increased 23 percent to $2.57 billion. Analysts expected per-share net income of $2.78 on revenue of $2.53 billion. The company explained the lower earnings on higher revenue as the result of a reversal of an asset valuation allowance for 2013 that cost the company a $259 million tax benefit. The decision increased the company’s tax obligation for 2014. Ryland also noted that this month it used $127 million cash on hand to settle a 5.4-percent senior-notes issue that matured this month. Shares closed up $2.95 cents, or about 8 percent, to $39.62 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Joel Russel
Joel Russel
Joel Russell joined the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2006 as a reporter. He transferred to sister publication San Fernando Valley Business Journal in 2012 as managing editor. Since he assumed the position of editor in 2015, the Business Journal has been recognized four times as the best small-circulation tabloid business publication in the country by the Alliance of Area Business Publishers. Previously, he worked as senior editor at Hispanic Business magazine and editor of Business Mexico.

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