Hovnanian’s Red Bank headquarters, as seen from Maple Cove. (Click to enlarge)
By JOHN T. WARD
Red Bank-based homebuilder Hovnanian Enterprises endured a 25-percent plunge in revenue in its latest fiscal quarter, another in a litany of bruising periods.
Still, the closely held company managed to narrow its loss to $50.9 million, from $72.9 million in the comparable 2010 quarter, by absorbing smaller write-downs for land.
The loss was the 19th out of the past 20 quarters for Hov, according to Bloomberg News Service. The profitable period, ending in January 2010, was the result of a federal tax break, Bloomberg reports.
Here’s a statement from the company:
“The housing market remains challenging primarily due to uncertainty caused by general domestic economic and political concerns, stock market volatility and turbulent international economic conditions, all of which are taking their toll on consumer confidence,” commented Ara K. Hovnanian, Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer. “Despite this difficult backdrop, our deliveries, revenues, gross margin and cash flow for the third quarter were in line with our expectations. However, we see very few indicators that any recovery in the housing market has begun. As such, we are taking appropriate steps to run our business based on current market conditions, with a focus on maintaining adequate liquidity.”
The company’s shares closed up 16 cents, at $1.65, in trading that ended before the announcement.
