Homebuilder Toll Brothers’ Fiscal 4Q Profit Drops

Toll Brothers Inc.’s fiscal-fourth-quarter earnings sank compared with last year, when a big income tax benefit inflated results, but the luxury homebuilder expects both revenue growth and increasing profitability in fiscal 2014.

The Horsham, Pa., company said Tuesday that its land portfolio, community count growth and product diversification will help it grow in the new year, although it did not provide a specific forecast.

“We believe that Toll Brothers, as well as the other public home building companies, still have significant room for growth,” Executive Chairman Robert I. Toll said in a statement from the company. “The economy, while still improving, is far from fully recovered.”

Toll Brothers operates in 20 states, including California, Florida, Texas and New York. It builds luxury homes mostly on land it develops. That includes single-family homes and urban high-rises.

For the quarter that ended Oct. 31, it earned $94.9 million, or 54 cents per share. That compares with earnings of $411.4 million, or $2.35 per share, in last year’s quarter, when it also recorded an income tax benefit of $350.7 million.

Revenue soared 65 percent to $1.04 billion.

Analysts expected, on average, earnings of 43 cents per share on $1.03 billion in revenue, according to FactSet.

Toll Brothers said its net signed contracts climbed 23 percent in the quarter, to $839 million. The average price of homes delivered was $703,000, compared with $582,000 in last year’s quarter.

For fiscal 2014, Toll Brothers expects to deliver between 5,100 and 6,100 homes, at an average delivered price of between $670,000 and $720,000.