Results improve for Real Homes owner

Jennifer Shubinski

Thursday, Oct. 23, 2003 | 11:24 a.m.

Home builder Centex Homes on Tuesday reported a profit of $186.1 million, or $2.88 per share, for the fiscal second quarter ended Sept. 30, up from $115.6 million, or $1.83, in the year-ago quarter.

Centex Homes builds homes under the name Real Homes in Las Vegas. During 2002, the company closed escrow on 548 homes, making it the 10th largest builder in the Las Vegas area.

Centex revenue grew 26 percent to $2.6 billion during the quarter.

The Dallas-based company's strong earnings came from the strong performance of its home sales, financial services, and investment real estate operation.

Centex recently bought about 315 acres of land in North Las Vegas for about $55 million from MGM MIRAGE.

"The results for the first six months of fiscal year 2004 for Centex Corp. were impressive and the outlook for the balance for the fiscal year is even better," Tim Miller, president and chief operating officer, said in a statement. "We have confidence in this outlook due to our 'homegrown' organic growth model that provides our business units with the operational flexibility to meet customer demand."

Based on the strength of the home building operations, its backlog of homes and the strength of its divisions, Centex is increasing its earnings per diluted share guidance to a range of $11 to $11.25 for fiscal 2004.