Net earnings for the fourth quarter of 2016 were $51.8 million or $1.22 per diluted share, compared to $52.9 million or $1.26 per diluted share reported for the fourth quarter of 2015. Analysts were expecting a gain of $1.14 per share.
A 15% increase in home closing revenue was partially offset by higher construction labor, land and development costs, as well as lower land closing profit, resulting in a 4% increase in total closing gross profit. A higher effective tax rate reduced net earnings in the fourth quarter of 2016 compared to 2015.
Home closing revenue increased to $876.1 million for the fourth quarter of 2016, compared to $761.4 million for the fourth quarter of 2015, reflecting a 10% increase in home closings and a 4% increase in the average price of homes closed during the quarter. The regions that posted the best year-over-year increases in home closing revenue were the East region (notably Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas), delivering a 22% revenue increase on 20% greater closings, and the West region (notably Arizona and Colorado), where home closing revenue was up 14% over the fourth quarter of 2015. Texas home closing revenue rose 9% primarily due to an 8% increase in average closing price.
Home closing gross margin of 17.9% in the fourth quarter of 2016 was the highest quarterly margin in 2016, benefiting from cost efficiencies related to higher closings and revenue. It was lower than last year’s fourth quarter margin of 19.3%, primarily due to the impact of cost inflation in land and construction.
Selling, general and administrative expenses of 10.5% were flat with the prior year’s fourth quarter, and improved sequentially from the third quarter’s 11.7% due to the leverage from higher closing revenue, as well as management cost controls.
Nearly 100% of interest incurred was capitalized to additional assets under development, resulting in a negligible amount of interest expense in the fourth quarter of 2016, compared to $4.0 million in the prior year.
The fourth quarter effective tax rate was 32.1% in 2016, compared to 30.5% in the fourth quarter of 2015, due to the timing of recognition of federal energy tax credits on Meritage’s highly energy efficient homes. The benefit was recognized throughout 2016 instead of being fully recognized in the fourth quarter, as it was in 2015 following the legislative extension of tax credits.
Total order value for the quarter was consistent with the fourth quarter of 2015, as a 5% increase in average sales price offset a 5% decline in orders, while absorptions per community were consistent with the prior year’s fourth quarter.
Orders and order value increased in the West region, primarily due to strong demand in Arizona and Colorado, as well as in the Central region, primarily due to growth in community count to meet demand. Order volumes in the East region were 27% lower than the prior year’s fourth quarter, primarily due to a 16% decline in average community count, from 100 in 2015 to 84 in 2016.
Ending community count at December 31, 2016 was 243, compared to 254 at December 31, 2015, but up sequentially from 237 at September 30, 2016. Various delays pushed the opening dates for a number of communities into 2017, which are expected to occur in the first half of the year.
“We generated a 16% increase in net earnings with 19% growth in home closing revenue, and controlled our overhead costs to help offset the negative impact from higher land, development and construction labor costs,” said Steven J. Hilton, chairman and CEO. “We delivered 7,355 homes during the year — a 13% increase over 2015 — and surpassed the historic milestone of 100,000 home closings, a proud achievement for Meritage.”
“We are successfully shifting our community offerings to fully embrace the growing number of first-time home buyers and are well on our way to achieving our target of 35-40% of our communities being aimed at this market segment by the end of 2018,” said Hilton. “We believe this strategy will provide value to both our customers and shareholders over the long term.”
