D R Horton annual sales down –45%

D R Horton, one of the biggest house builders in the US has reported revenues for the 2009 fiscal year down -45% to US$ 3.6 billion. The company made a net loss of US$ 537 million, although this was a marked improvement on 2008's loss of US$ 2.67 billion, which included US$ 2.48 billion of write-downs and impairment charges.

The company said it sold 16703 homes in the year to the end of September, compared to 26396 in the 2008 fiscal year. However, the company saw its net order intake for the three months to September rise to 5008 homes, worth US$ 1.0 billion, compared to 3977 homes worth US$ 852 million in the same period last year.

Despite this +26% increase, company chairman Donald R Horton said business conditions remained tough. "Market conditions in the homebuilding industry are still challenging, characterised by rising foreclosures, high inventory levels of available homes, increasing unemployment, tight credit for homebuyers and weak consumer confidence," he said.