IRVINE, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The New Home Company Inc. (NYSE: NWHM) today announced results for the 2020 fourth quarter and full year.
Fourth Quarter 2020 Financial Results
- Net orders up 89%, monthly sales absorption rate increased 68% to 3.7 compared to 2.2 in the prior year
- Unit backlog up 175%, dollar value of homes in backlog increased 88% compared to last year to $236.0 million
- Total revenues of $145.6 million and home sales revenue of $135.4 million
- Homebuilding gross margin of 14.8% compared to 7.8% in the prior year, including impairments in prior year
- Adjusted gross margin excluding interest in cost of sales and impairments improved 260 basis points to 19.4%* compared to 16.8%* in the prior year
- Net loss of $1.2 million, or $(0.07) per diluted share, including an $8.0 million debt refinance charge
- Adjusted net income of $4.8 million*, or $0.26 per diluted share*, excluding the debt refinance charge
- Ending cash balance of $107.3 million, a $28.0 million increase compared to end of 2019
- Debt-to-capital ratio of 55.4% and a net debt-to-capital ratio of 41.0%*, an 820-basis point improvement from the end of 2019
"The New Home Company finished the year on a strong note with solid progress across many key operating metrics during the fourth quarter," stated Larry Webb, Executive Chairman of The New Home Company. "Robust demand for new housing resulted in an 89% increase in net new orders, while strong pricing power resulted in a 260-basis point* improvement in adjusted gross margins during the fourth quarter. Excluding a one-time debt refinance charge, the company generated adjusted net income of $4.8 million*, or $0.26 per diluted share*, while generating $31 million of operating cash flow. We ended the year with a net-debt-to-capital ratio of 41.0%, an 820 basis point improvement from a year ago."
Leonard Miller, President and Chief Executive Officer, stated, "We enter 2021 on solid footing with the number of homes in backlog up 175% as compared to the end of 2019. We continue to see strong demand across all our markets as December was the highest order month in the history of the Company and the trend continued into January as net orders increased 109% compared to January 2020 driven by a 4.5 monthly sales absorption pace. While our affordable product offerings continue to grow as a percentage of our total community offerings, new home demand was evident across all product segments. The faster sales pace combined with meaningful price increases at nearly all of our communities has driven gross margin improvement that we expect to continue into 2021."
Mr. Miller concluded, "We substantially improved our financial condition in the fourth quarter through the successful refinance of our Senior Notes, the extension of our revolving credit facility and by unwinding our position in a capital intensive joint venture. Moving forward, we look to execute a balanced approach of acquiring new land positions and improving our operating metrics to generate positive shareholder returns as we head into 2021. I am excited about the future of The New Home Company and look forward to building on the momentum we established in 2020."
Fourth Quarter 2020 Operating Results
Total revenues for the 2020 fourth quarter were $145.6 million, compared to $222.1 million in the prior year period. Net loss attributable to the Company for the fourth quarter was $1.2 million, or $(0.07) per diluted share, compared to a net loss of $3.0 million, or $(0.15) per diluted share, in the prior year period. The 2020 fourth quarter results included a pretax charge of $8.0 million related to the refinance of the Company’s senior notes in October 2020 and the 2019 fourth quarter included $10.1 million of pretax inventory and joint venture impairment charges. Adjusted net income for the 2020 fourth quarter was $4.8 million*, or $0.26 per diluted share*, excluding the refinance charge compared to adjusted net income for the 2019 fourth quarter of $3.1 million*, or $0.15 per diluted share*, excluding the inventory and joint venture impairment charges.
Wholly Owned Projects
Net new home orders for the 2020 fourth quarter increased 89% year-over-year, primarily due to improved monthly sales absorption rates, and to a lesser extent, a slight increase in average selling communities. The monthly sales absorption rate for the 2020 fourth quarter was up 68% to 3.7 compared to 2.2 for the prior year period. We ended the 2020 fourth quarter with 23 active communities, up from 21 at the end of the 2019 fourth quarter.
The Company's wholly owned backlog at the end of the 2020 fourth quarter increased 175% to 410 homes compared to 149 homes for the prior year period. The increase in backlog units was driven primarily by the increase in net new orders coupled with a lower backlog conversion rate for the 2020 fourth quarter. Our backlog conversion rate was 57% for the 2020 fourth quarter as compared to 97% in the year ago period. The decrease in the 2020 conversion rate resulted from fewer homes sold and delivered during the quarter as a result of fewer completed spec homes available to sell, coupled with a higher beginning backlog to start the 2020 fourth quarter. The dollar value of the Company's wholly owned backlog rose 88% to $236.0 million driven by the increase in units, which was partially offset by a 32% decrease in the average selling price of homes in backlog to $576,000 as the Company continues to diversify its product offerings, including its expansion into more affordable communities in Arizona.
Home sales revenue for the 2020 fourth quarter was $135.4 million compared to $173.9 million in the 2019 fourth quarter. The 22% decrease in home sales revenue was driven by a 17% decline in average selling price to $720,000 from $870,000 for the 2019 fourth quarter and a 6% decrease in home deliveries. The lower year-over-year average selling price is consistent with the Company's strategic shift to more affordable product in all our markets, and particularly in Arizona where the 2020 fourth quarter average home price decreased 40% as we delivered the first homes at our more affordable communities during the fourth quarter.
Gross margin from home sales for the 2020 fourth quarter was 14.8% compared to 7.8% in the 2019 fourth quarter. Excluding $6.6 million of inventory impairment charges, the 2019 fourth quarter gross margin was 11.6%*. Adjusted homebuilding gross margin, which excludes home sales impairment charges and interest in cost of home sales, was 19.4%* for the 2020 fourth quarter as compared to 16.8%* in the prior year period. The improvement in gross margin was primarily due to better pricing power and a mix shift.
The Company's SG&A expense ratio as a percentage of home sales revenue for the 2020 fourth quarter was 12.0% compared to 9.9% in the 2019 fourth quarter. The increase in rate was primarily due to the 22% reduction of home sales revenue and a $0.4 million reduction in the amount of G&A expenses allocated to fee building cost of sales in the 2020 fourth quarter as compared to the prior year period due to lower fee building and joint venture activity, and to a lesser extent, an increase in broker commissions.
Fee Building Projects
Fee building revenue for the 2020 fourth quarter was $10.2 million, compared to $31.1 million in the prior year period. The decrease in fee building revenue was largely due to the wind down of our fee building arrangement with Irvine Pacific. This decrease was partially offset by $2.2 million in fee revenue earned at our new Atlas fee building project at Great Park in Irvine, CA.
Unconsolidated Joint Ventures (JVs)
The Company recognized $3.2 million of income from joint ventures in the 2020 fourth quarter compared to a $3.8 million loss for the prior year period. Included in joint venture income for the 2020 fourth quarter was $4.5 million of income attributable to the Company related to the sale of the remaining lots at the Russell Ranch land development joint venture in Folsom, CA.
Balance Sheet and Liquidity
The Company generated $31.1 million in operating cash flows during the 2020 fourth quarter and ended the quarter with $107.3 million in cash, and $244.9 million in debt. At December 31, 2020, the Company had a debt-to-capital ratio of 55.4% and a net debt-to-capital ratio of 41.0%*. As of December 31, 2020, the Company owned or controlled 2,018 lots through its wholly owned operations, of which 34% lots were controlled through option contracts.
Share Repurchases
During the 2020 fourth quarter, the Company repurchased 109,609 shares of common stock for an aggregate value of $560,000. As of the end of the fourth quarter, the Company had a remaining purchase authorization of $9.4 million of its $10 million authorized stock repurchase program.
Guidance
The Company's current estimate for the 2021 first quarter is as follows:
- Home sales revenue of $80 - $85 million
- Fee building revenue of $4 - $6 million
- Home sales gross margin of 16.5% - 17.0%
The Company's current estimate for the 2021 full year is as follows:
- Home sales revenue of $410 - $440 million
- Fee building revenue of $15 - $20 million
- Home sales gross margin of 15.5% - 16.0%
Conference Call Details
The Company will host a conference call and webcast for investors and other interested parties beginning at 11:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Thursday, February 11, 2021 to review fourth quarter and full year results, discuss recent events, and discuss the Company's quarterly and full year guidance for 2021. We will also conduct a question-and-answer period. The conference call will be available in the Investors section of the Company’s website at www.NWHM.com. To listen to the broadcast live, go to the site approximately 15 minutes prior to the scheduled start time in order to register, download and install any necessary audio software. To participate in the telephone conference call, dial 1-877-407-0789 (domestic) or 1-201-689-8562 (international) at least five minutes prior to the start time. Replays of the conference call will be available through March 13, 2021 and can be accessed by dialing 1-844-512-2921 (domestic) or 1-412-317-6671 (international) and entering the pass code 13715475.
* Net debt-to-capital ratio, adjusted net income, adjusted EPS, home sales gross margin excluding impairment charges (homebuilding gross margin before impairments) and adjusted homebuilding gross margin (or homebuilding gross margin excluding impairments and interest in cost of home sales) are non-GAAP measures. A reconciliation of the appropriate GAAP measure to each of these measures is included in the accompanying financial data. See “Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures.”
About The New Home Company
NWHM is a new generation homebuilder focused on the design, construction and sale of innovative and consumer-driven homes in major metropolitan areas within select growth markets in California and Arizona, including Southern California, the San Francisco Bay area, metro Sacramento and the greater Phoenix area. The Company is headquartered in Irvine, California. For more information about the Company and its new home developments, please visit the Company's website at www.NWHM.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Various statements contained in this press release, including those that express a belief, anticipation, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements. Such statements include the statements regarding current business conditions. These forward-looking statements may include projections and estimates concerning our revenues, community counts and openings, the timing and success of specific projects, our ability to execute our strategic growth objectives, gross margins, other projected results, income, earnings per share, joint ventures and capital spending. Our forward-looking statements are generally accompanied by words such as “estimate,” “should,” “project,” “predict,” “believe,” “expect,” “intend,” “anticipate,” “potential,” “plan,” “goal,” “will,” “guidance,” “target,” “forecast,” or other words that convey the uncertainty of future events or outcomes. The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this release, and we disclaim any obligation to update these statements unless required by law, and we caution you not to rely on them unduly. We have based these forward-looking statements on our current expectations and assumptions about future events. While our management considers these expectations and assumptions to be reasonable, they are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control. The following factors, among others, may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements: a pandemic, epidemic, or outbreak of infectious disease or similar threat, and the response to such event by government agencies and authorities, adverse impacts due to the COVID-19 pandemic, including a recession in the U.S., which could include, among other things, a significant decrease in demand for our homes or consumer confidence generally with respect to purchasing a home, the impact of legislation designed to provide economic relief from a recession, the inability of employees to work and of customers to visit our communities due to government movement restrictions or illness, disruptions in our supply chain, our inability to access capital markets due to lack of liquidity in the economy resulting from the responses to the COVID-19 pandemic, inconsistencies in the classification of homebuilding as an essential business, recognition of charges which may be material for inventory impairments or land option contract abandonments; economic changes either nationally or in the markets in which we operate, including declines in employment, volatility of mortgage interest rates and inflation; a downturn in the homebuilding industry; changes in sales conditions, including home prices, in the markets where we build homes; our significant amount of debt and the impact of restrictive covenants in our debt agreements; our ability to repay our debt as it comes due; changes in our credit rating or outlook; volatility and uncertainty in the credit markets and broader financial markets; our business and investment strategy including our plans to sell more affordably priced homes; availability of land to acquire and our ability to acquire such land on favorable terms or at all; our liquidity and availability, terms and deployment of capital; changes in margin; write-downs; shortages of or increased prices for labor, land or raw materials used in housing construction; adverse weather conditions and natural disasters (including wild fires and mudslides); our concentration in California; issues concerning our joint venture partnerships; the cost and availability of insurance and surety bonds; governmental regulation, including the impact of "slow growth" or similar initiatives; changes in, or the failure or inability to comply with, governmental laws and regulations; the timing of receipt of regulatory approvals and the opening of projects; delays in the land entitlement process, development, construction, or the opening of new home communities; litigation and warranty claims; the degree and nature of competition; the impact of recent accounting standards; availability of qualified personnel and our ability to retain our key personnel; and information technology failures and data security breaches, including issues involving increased reliance on technology due to critical business functions being done remotely because of COVID-19; and additional factors discussed under the sections captioned “Risk Factors” included in our annual report and other reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company reserves the right to make such updates from time to time by press release, periodic report or other method of public disclosure without the need for specific reference to this press release. No such update shall be deemed to indicate that other statements not addressed by such update remain correct or create an obligation to provide any other updates.
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Investor Relations
Drew Mackintosh
949-382-7838
[email protected]
Source: The New Home Company Inc.
