Toll’s U.S. profits slip 24% over tax debt

Toll's David Von Spreckelsen
Toll's David Von Spreckelsen

Toll Brothers’ profits dropped 24 percent in the fiscal third quarter as the result of paying off a tax expense of $21.7 million, compared with a tax benefit of $18.7 million in 2012.

The national homebuilder’s income in May, June and July fell to $46.6 million, from $61.6 million the previous year. It went from 36 cents a share to 26 cents a share, Bloomberg News reported. Meanwhile, revenue increased 24 percent to $689.2 million. Pretax profit grew from $43 million to $68.3 million. The Horsham, Pa.-based company signed contracts for 1,405 homes at a value of $992.6 million. In 2012, it signed 1,119 homes at $674.4 million.

Sign Up for the undefined Newsletter

“Toll’s high-end buyer is much less interest-rate sensitive than the average homebuyer, which should help differentiate the company from its public homebuilding peers in the near term,” Megan McGrath, an analyst with MKM Partners LLC, wrote to investors.

Last month, in New York, Toll Brothers set up a sales office for its Pier 1 condominium development in Brooklyn Bridge Park on the ground floor of St. George Tower in Brooklyn Heights, as previously reported. [Bloomberg News]Mark Maurer