Meritage Homes reports third quarter 2016 diluted EPS of $0.88 on a 22% increase in net earnings, with 11% growth in home closing revenue and home orders

SCOTTSDALE, Ariz., Oct.27, 2016(GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE:MTH), a leading U.S. homebuilder, announced today third quarter results for the period ended September 30, 2016.

MANAGEMENT COMMENTS

"We delivered another quarter of strong earnings growth as we continued to execute on our strategic plan," said Steven J. Hilton, chairman and chief executive officer of Meritage Homes. "Earnings growth was driven primarily by increased home closing revenue on higher closing volumes. We delivered 1,800 homes during the quarter and celebrated the closing of our 100,000th home in October. We have expanded and diversified strategically over the past 31 years, and continue to have significant opportunities for growth.

"I am very pleased with the initial success we're having in our 'entry-level plus' communities, including the first of our new LiVE.NOW.?,,? homes, which we unveiled earlier this month," said Mr. Hilton. "We are offering homes that are a cut above traditional entry-level homes and include Meritage's signature energy efficiency, designed to appeal to more discerning first-time buyers. Many of those are Millennials, who represent millions of additional household formations over the next decade or more, and additional growth potential for Meritage. Our enhanced product offering provides a broader range of affordably-priced homes to address pent-up demand, which we expect will produce top-line growth and operational efficiencies over time to drive additional earnings."

He added, "We are benefitting from the numerous operational changes we made last year in our latest expansion markets and are experiencing higher absorptions in Georgia, North Carolina and Tennessee, which should lead to better returns and improved operating leverage for our company. As a result of those changes and stronger demand, we achieved a 14% increase in our orders per average community over last year's third quarter, which drove our 11% order growth during the quarter," continued Mr. Hilton. "We believe the economic drivers of the housing market, including job growth, increased household formations and low interest rates, point to continued growth for well-positioned homebuilders.

"Based on our results for the first three quarters of the year and our positive outlook for the market, we have refined our projections for 2016 full year orders, closings, revenue and diluted earnings per share: We expect 7,300-7,500 orders and 7,300-7,500 home closings for full year home closing revenue of $2.9-3.1 billion in 2016. With a projected home closing gross margin of approximately 17.5% for the year, we expect to deliver full year diluted EPS of $3.40-3.60 for 2016."

THIRD QUARTER RESULTS

• Net earnings for the third quarter of 2016 were $36.9 million or $0.88 per diluted share, 22% higher than the $30.3 million or $0.73 per diluted share reported for the third quarter of 2015, primarily reflecting higher home closing revenue offsetting lower home closing gross margins in the 2016 quarter.
  
• Home closing revenue increased 11% over the third quarter of 2015, combining a 5% increase in home closings with a 6% increase in the average price of homes closed during the quarter. The rise in average closing price was driven primarily by increased closings and higher average prices in the West region. Central region home closing revenue grew 9% on a 5% increase in closings over the prior year. Closings grew 10% in the East region, partially offset by a 3% decline in average closing price, for a 6% increase in home closing revenue.
  
• Home closing gross margin of 17.8% in the third quarter of 2016 declined from 19.0% in the third quarter of 2015, though it improved sequentially from 17.3% in the second quarter of 2016. Margins have been compressed in 2016 primarily due to limited pricing power to offset increased land and construction costs.
  
• Selling, general and administrative expenses were 11.4% of third quarter 2016 total closing revenue, compared to 11.5% in the prior year.
  
• Interest expense decreased by $4.0 million to $0.2 million in the third quarter of 2016, as more interest incurred was capitalized to assets under development.
  
• Other income/(expense) increased by a net $5.4 million in the third quarter of 2016 compared to 2015, reflecting a $4.1 million adverse legal ruling in 2015, while the 2016 quarter included additional income from municipalities related to reimbursable property development expenditures.
  
• The effective tax rate was 31.4% in the third quarter of 2016, compared to 35.1% in the third quarter of 2015, reflecting the benefit from federal energy tax credits on Meritage's highly energy efficient homes. The benefit was recognized in the third quarter of 2016 compared to the fourth quarter of 2015, following the legislative extension of energy tax credits.
  
• Total order value grew 14% to $715.6 million in the third quarter of 2016, compared to $630.0 million in the third quarter of the prior year. Total orders increased 11% due to a 14% increase in orders per average community, despite a lower community count in the third quarter of 2016 than in 2015. Orders per average community were 7.3 in the third quarter of 2016 compared to 6.4 in the prior year. Average sales prices also rose 2% over 2015's third quarter.
  
• Ending community count at September 30, 2016 was 237, compared to 250 at September 30, 2015, with a 2% decline in average active communities for the third quarter of 2016 compared to 2015.
  
• September 30th ending backlog value was 9% higher in 2016 than in 2015, combining 7% more units in backlog with a 2% increase in the average price of orders in backlog.
  

YEAR TO DATE RESULTS

• Net earnings were $97.7 million or $2.33 per fully diluted share for the first nine months of 2016, compared to $75.8 million or $1.83 per diluted share for the first nine months of 2015, a 29% increase in net earnings and 27% increase in fully diluted EPS. The increased earnings were primarily the result of a 20% increase in 2016 year-to-date home closing revenue and greater overhead leverage, partially offset by lower home closing gross margins.
  
• Home closings for the first three quarters of the year increased 14% over 2015, and average closing prices increased 6% for the same period.
  
• Year-to-date home closing gross margin in 2016 was 17.5%, compared to 18.9% for 2015, reflecting limited pricing power relative to increased land and construction costs, as well as immature markets within the East region.
  
• Total commissions and selling expenses declined to 7.3% of year-to-date 2016 home closing revenue from 7.6% in 2015. General and administrative expenses declined to 4.3% of total closing revenue in 2016 compared to 4.8% in 2015.
  
• Interest expense for the first nine months of the year decreased to $5.1 million in 2016 compared to $12.0 million in 2015, as more interest was capitalized to assets under development.
  

BALANCE SHEET

• The company ended the third quarter of 2016 with $107.9 million in cash and cash equivalents, compared to $262.2 million at December 31, 2015. The decrease in cash was primarily due to investments in real estate inventory as a result of organic growth. The company had $25 million drawn on its revolving credit facility at quarter-end, which was repaid in early October.
  
• Real estate assets increased to $2.43 billion at September 30, 2016, compared to $2.10 billion at December 31, 2015, as the balance of homes under contract under construction increased $176 million, accounting for most of the increase.
  
• Net debt-to-capital ratio at September 30 was 43.0%, consistent with June 30, 2016 at 42.6%, and up from 40.4% at December 31, 2015 due to the use of cash to replenish the company's land pipeline, as well as a growing inventory of homes under construction during 2016.
  
• Total lot supply at the end of the quarter was approximately 28,800, compared to approximately 29,000 at September 30, 2015 and 27,800 at year-end 2015. Based on trailing twelve months closings, total lots at September 30, 2016 represented approximately a 4.0 year supply of lots.

CONFERENCE CALL

Management will host a conference call today to discuss the Company's results at 12:30 p.m. Eastern Time (9:30 a.m. Arizona Time). The call will be webcast with an accompanying slideshow available on the "Investor Relations" page of the Company's web site at http://investors.meritagehomes.com. Telephone participants may avoid any delays by pre-registering for the call using the following link to receive a special dial-in number and PIN.

Conference call registration link: http://dpregister.com/10092994.

Telephone participants who are unable to pre-register may dial in to 866-226-4948 on the day of the call. International dial-in number is 1-412-902-4125 or 1-855-669-9657 in Canada.

A replay of the call will be available through November 10, 2016, beginning at 2:30 p.m. ET on October 27, 2016 on the website noted above, or by dialing 877-344-7529, and referencing conference number 10092994. For more information, visit www.meritagehomes.com.

About Meritage Homes Corporation

Meritage Homes is the seventh-largest public homebuilder in the United States, based on homes closed in 2015. Meritage Homes builds and sells single-family homes for first-time, move-up, luxury and active adult buyers across the Western, Southern and Southeastern United States. Meritage Homes builds in markets including Sacramento, San Francisco Bay area, southern coastal and Inland Empire markets in California; Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Austin and San Antonio, Texas; Phoenix/Scottsdale, Green Valley and Tucson, Arizona; Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado; Orlando, Tampa and south Florida; Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina; Greenville-Spartanburg and York County, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Atlanta, Georgia.

Meritage Homes has designed and built over 100,000 homes in its 31-year history, and has a reputation for its distinctive style, quality construction, and positive customer experience. Meritage Homes is the industry leader in energy-efficient homebuilding and has received the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's ENERGY STAR Partner of the Year for Sustained Excellence Award every year since 2013 for innovation and industry leadership in energy efficient homebuilding. For more information, visit meritagehomes.com.

This press release and the accompanying comments during our analyst call contain forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such statements include management's expectations with respect to future growth, projected orders, home closings and home closing revenue, home closing gross margins and diluted earnings per share for the full year 2016.

Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of Company management, and current market conditions, which are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual results may differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. The Company makes no commitment, and disclaims any duty, to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect future events or changes in these expectations. Meritage's business is subject to a number of risks and uncertainties. As a result of those risks and uncertainties, the Company's stock and note prices may fluctuate dramatically. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the following: the availability and cost of finished lots and undeveloped land; interest rates and changes in the availability and pricing of residential mortgages; fluctuations in the availability and cost of labor; changes in tax laws that adversely impact us or our homebuyers; reversal of the current economic recovery; the ability of our potential buyers to sell their existing homes; cancellation rates; inflation in the cost of materials used to develop communities and construct homes; the adverse effect of slower order absorption rates; impairments of our real estate inventory; a change to the feasibility of projects under option or contract that could result in the write-down or write-off of option deposits; our potential exposure to natural disasters or severe weather conditions; competition; construction defect and home warranty claims; failures in health and safety performance; our success in prevailing on contested tax positions; our ability to obtain performance bonds in connection with our development work; the loss of key personnel; enactment of new laws or regulations or our failure to comply with laws and regulations; our limited geographic diversification; fluctuations in quarterly operating results; our level of indebtedness; our ability to obtain financing due to a downgrade of our credit ratings; our ability to successfully integrate acquired companies and achieve anticipated benefits from these acquisitions; our compliance with government regulations and the effect of legislative or other initiatives that seek to restrain growth of new housing construction or similar measures; legislation relating to energy and climate change; the replication of our energy-efficient technologies by our competitors; our exposure to information technology failures and security breaches; and other factors identified in documents filed by the Company with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including those set forth in our Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2015 and subsequent quarterly reports on Forms 10-Q under the caption "Risk Factors," which can be found on our website.

Contacts:	Brent Anderson, VP Investor Relations
(972) 580-6360 (office)
investors@meritagehomes.com