Meritage Homes Reports a 35% Increase in Home Closing

SCOTTSDALE, AZ--(Marketwired - July 28, 2016) - Meritage Homes Corporation (NYSE: MTH), a leading U.S. homebuilder, announced today second quarter results for the period ended June 30, 2016.


Summary Operating Results (unaudited)
(Dollars in thousands, except per share amounts)

	Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
	2016		2015		% Chg		2016		2015		% Chg
Homes closed (units)		1,950		1,556	25	%		3,438		2,891	19	%
Home closing revenue	$	795,845	$	591,027	35	%	$	1,391,462	$	1,108,300	26	%
Average sales price - closings	$	408	$	380	7	%	$	405	$	383	6	%
Home orders (units)		2,073		1,986	4	%		4,060		3,965	2	%
Home order value	$	845,346	$	775,815	9	%	$	1,649,946	$	1,558,627	6	%
Average sales price - orders	$	408	$	391	4	%	$	406	$	393	3	%
Ending backlog (units)								3,314		3,188	4	%
Ending backlog value							$	1,396,165	$	1,296,779	8	%
Average sales price - backlog							$	421	$	407	4	%
Net earnings	$	39,878	$	29,133	37	%	$	60,847	$	45,533	34	%
Diluted EPS	$	0.95	$	0.70	36	%	$	1.45	$	1.10	32	%

MANAGEMENT COMMENTS

Steven J. Hilton, chairman and chief executive officer of Meritage Homes, said: "We continue to benefit from our focused strategy, as evidenced by our solid performance in the second quarter and the first half of 2016. We delivered strong top-line growth for the quarter, reflecting a significant increase in our backlog conversion rate. In addition, we successfully managed our overhead costs, which combined with our 35% increase in home closing revenue to generate positive year-over-year earnings growth.

"We continue to make efficiency improvements to create a sustainable platform for increased operating leverage as we grow. We reduced our selling, general and administrative expenses for the second quarter by 150 basis points. This, along with a 60 basis point reduction in interest expense, more than offset a 200 basis point decline in our gross margin. As a result, we delivered a 43% increase in pre-tax earnings compared to last year's second quarter.

"Importantly, many economic and housing drivers remain positive, including continued job growth, historically low interest rates and a 30-year low supply of homes available for sale. These trends are reflected in the 2,073 new homes we sold during the quarter, the most since the first quarter of 2007. We anticipate these positive conditions will translate to Millennial buyers entering the market in growing numbers, and are working to position Meritage to capture the expected increase in demand from those buyers.

"Based on our outlook and the results for the first half of the year, we are reiterating our projections for 2016 full year orders, closings, revenue and diluted earnings per share, while adjusting our expectations for the timing of improvements in gross margin due to limited pricing power to offset rising costs. We are also providing our third quarter projections, including approximately 1,600-1,800 orders, which should result in 7,350-7,550 orders for the year. We also project 1,750-1,850 homes closings in the third quarter for home closing revenue of $740-760 million, and 7,300-7,600 closings for revenue of $2.9-3.1 billion for the year. We expect home closing gross margins of approximately 17.5-18.0% for the third quarter and for the year. With those projections, we expect to deliver diluted EPS of $0.80-0.85 for the third quarter and $3.55-3.85 for the year."

SECOND QUARTER RESULTS

Net earnings of $39.9 million ($0.95 per diluted share) for the second quarter of 2016, compared to prior year net earnings of $29.1 million ($0.70 per diluted share), primarily reflects higher home closing revenues and greater overhead operating leverage.
Home closing revenue increased 35% due to a 25% increase in home closings combined with a 7% increase in average price over the prior year period. The West region (California, Colorado and Arizona) led with a 51% increase in home closing revenue over the second quarter of 2015, followed by 30% growth in the East region (Florida, Georgia, the Carolinas and Tennessee) and a 19% growth in the Central region (Texas).
Home closing gross profit increased 21% to $137.7 million for the second quarter of 2016, including $2.0 million of real estate impairments, compared to $114.2 million in the second quarter of 2015, which included $1.8 million of impairments. Second quarter home closing gross margin was 17.3% in 2016 (17.6% before impairments), compared to 19.3% in 2015 (19.6% before impairments), primarily reflecting higher land and labor costs, in addition to fewer closings of homes in high-margin communities.
Commissions and other sales costs totaled 7.1% of home closing revenue in the second quarter of 2016, compared to 7.6% in the second quarter of 2015, reflecting the impact of recent company initiatives.
General and administrative expenses for the second quarter of 2016 also benefited from improved operating leverage on higher revenue, decreasing 100 basis points to 3.6% of total closing revenue in 2016 from 4.6% in 2015.
Interest expense declined to $1.7 million or 0.2% of second quarter 2016 revenue from $4.6 million or 0.8% of total second quarter 2015 revenue, due to additional interest capitalized to an increased level of real-estate assets under development.
Second quarter effective tax rate increased to 32% in 2016 from 30% in the second quarter of 2015, and consistent with management's projected 32% for the full year 2016. Meritage benefits from a lower effective tax rate than statutory rates due to energy tax credits captured on its energy-efficient homes (currently approved through the remainder of 2016) and manufacturing credits.
Second quarter 2016 orders for new homes increased 4% over the prior year and total order value increased 9% year over year. The total value of homes ordered increased 19% in the East and 15% in the West region, partially offset by a 9% decline in Texas.
Total active community count was 241 at June 30, 2016, essentially flat year over year. Average orders per community increased marginally to 8.6 for the second quarter of 2016 from 8.5 in 2015.

YEAR TO DATE RESULTS

Net earnings were $60.8 million for the first half of 2016, compared to $45.5 million for the first half of 2015, primarily driven by a 26% increase in home closing revenue.
Home closings for the first half of the year increased 19% over 2015, combined with a 6% increase in average prices.
Home closing gross profit increased 15% to $241.1 million in the first half of 2016 compared to $209.7 million in the first half of 2015.
Gross margin was 17.3% in the first half of 2016 compared to 18.9% in 2015, reflecting continued cost and pricing headwinds.
Total commissions and selling expenses declined 40 basis points to 7.4% of year-to-date 2016 home closing revenue from 7.8% in 2015, while general and administrative expenses declined 90 basis points to 4.2% of total closing revenue in the first half of 2016, compared to 5.1% in 2015.

BALANCE SHEET

Cash and cash equivalents at June 30, 2016, totaled $128.2 million, compared to $262.2 million at December 31, 2015, primarily reflecting investments in real estate to replace lots and position the company for future growth.
Real estate assets increased by $203.0 million in the first half of the year, ending at $2.30 billion at June 30, 2016, compared to $2.10 billion at December 31, 2015.
Meritage ended the second quarter of 2016 with approximately 28,900 total lots under control, compared to approximately 29,100 total lots at June 30, 2015 and 27,800 at year-end 2015.
Net debt-to-capital ratio at June 30, 2016 was 42.6%, compared to 40.4% at December 31, 2015, due to the intended use of cash to replenish the pipeline for land and development, and a growing inventory of homes under construction during the second quarter of 2016.

CONFERENCE CALL

Management will host a conference call today to discuss the Company's results at 10:30 a.m. Eastern Time (7:30 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/10088999.

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 for Canada.

A replay of the call will be available until August 11, 2016, beginning at approximately 12:30 p.m. ET on July 28, 2016 on the website noted above, or by dialing 877-344-7529, 1-412-317-0088 for international or 1-855-669-9658 for Canada, and referencing conference number 10088999.



Meritage Homes Corporation and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Income Statements
(Unaudited)
(In thousands, except per share data)

				Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
				2016			2015			2016			2015
Homebuilding:
	Home closing revenue			$	795,845		$	591,027		$	1,391,462		$	1,108,300
	Land closing revenue				2,051			6,774			4,200			8,213
		Total closing revenue			797,896			597,801			1,395,662			1,116,513
	Cost of home closings				(658,099	)		(476,790	)		(1,150,369	)		(898,576	)
	Cost of land closings				(1,693	)		(6,262	)		(3,393	)		(7,547	)
		Total cost of closings			(659,792	)		(483,052	)		(1,153,762	)		(906,123	)
	Home closing gross profit				137,746			114,237			241,093			209,724
	Land closing gross profit				358			512			807			666
		Total closing gross profit			138,104			114,749			241,900			210,390
Financial Services:
	Revenue				3,476			2,741			5,976			5,276
	Expense				(1,508	)		(1,362	)		(2,754	)		(2,661	)
	Earnings from financial services unconsolidated entities and other, net				3,795			2,757			6,587			5,301
		Financial services profit			5,763			4,136			9,809			7,916
Commissions and other sales costs					(56,379	)		(45,167	)		(102,556	)		(86,779	)
General and administrative expenses					(28,898	)		(27,650	)		(58,516	)		(57,300	)
Earnings/(loss) from other unconsolidated entities, net					573			(169	)		416			(292	)
Interest expense					(1,672	)		(4,621	)		(4,960	)		(7,775	)
Other income, net					1,545			136			1,828			551
Earnings before income taxes					59,036			41,414			87,921			66,711
Provision for income taxes					(19,158	)		(12,281	)		(27,074	)		(21,178	)
Net earnings				$	39,878		$	29,133		$	60,847		$	45,533

Earnings per share:
	Basic
			Earnings per share	$	1.00		$	0.73		$	1.52		$	1.15
			Weighted average shares outstanding		40,012			39,648			39,926			39,520
	Diluted
			Earnings per share	$	0.95		$	0.70		$	1.45		$	1.10
			Weighted average shares outstanding		42,533			42,145			42,477			42,079


Meritage Homes Corporation and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Balance Sheets
(In thousands)
(unaudited)

				June 30, 2016		December 31, 2015
Assets:
	Cash and cash equivalents				128,171		262,208
	Other receivables				68,837		57,296
	Real estate ⁽¹⁾				2,301,305		2,098,302
	Deposits on real estate under option or contract				91,444		87,839
	Investments in unconsolidated entities				11,188		11,370
	Property and equipment, net				34,009		33,970
	Deferred tax asset				58,840		59,147
	Prepaids, other assets and goodwill				67,361		69,645
		Total assets		$	2,761,155	$	2,679,777
Liabilities:
	Accounts payable				126,028		106,440
	Accrued liabilities				154,643		161,163
	Home sale deposits				39,646		36,197
	Loans payable and other borrowings				19,889		23,867
	Senior and convertible senior notes, net				1,094,146		1,093,173
			Total liabilities		1,434,352		1,420,840
Stockholders' Equity:
	Preferred stock				-		-
	Common stock				400		397
	Additional paid-in capital				566,508		559,492
	Retained earnings				759,895		699,048
			Total stockholders' equity		1,326,803		1,258,937
		Total liabilities and stockholders' equity		$	2,761,155	$	2,679,777
⁽¹⁾Real estate - Allocated costs:
	Homes under contract under construction			$	607,390	$	456,138
	Unsold homes, completed and under construction				274,824		307,425
	Model homes				146,707		138,546
	Finished home sites and home sites under development				1,272,384		1,196,193
			Total real estate	$	2,301,305	$	2,098,302


Supplemental Information and Non-GAAP Financial Disclosures (Dollars in thousands - unaudited):

		Three Months Ended June 30,						Six Months Ended June 30,
		2016			2015			2016			2015
Depreciation and amortization		$	4,198		$	3,518		$	7,600		$	6,729

Summary of Capitalized Interest:
Capitalized interest, beginning of period		$	64,126		$	56,843		$	61,202		$	54,060
Interest incurred			17,713			16,526			35,272			31,808
Interest expensed			(1,672	)		(4,621	)		(4,960	)		(7,775	)
Interest amortized to cost of home and land closings			(15,485	)		(9,878	)		(26,832	)		(19,223	)
Capitalized interest, end of period		$	64,682		$	58,870		$	64,682		$	58,870

		June 30, 2016			December 31, 2015
Notes payable and other borrowings			1,114,035			1,117,040
Stockholders' equity			1,326,803			1,258,937
Total capital			2,440,838			2,375,977
Debt-to-capital			45.6	%		47.0	%
Notes payable and other borrowings			1,114,035			1,117,040
	Less: cash and cash equivalents	$	(128,171	)	$	(262,208	)
Net debt			985,864			854,832
Stockholders' equity			1,326,803			1,258,937
Total net capital		$	2,312,667		$	2,113,769
Net debt-to-capital			42.6	%		40.4	%


Meritage Homes Corporation and Subsidiaries
Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(In thousands) (unaudited)

			Six Months Ended June 30,
			2016			2015
Cash flows from operating activities:
	Net earnings		$	60,847		$	45,533
	Adjustments to reconcile net earnings to net cash used in operating activities:
		Depreciation and amortization		7,600			6,729
		Stock-based compensation		7,313			8,465
		Excess income tax provision/(benefit) from stock-based awards		526			(2,012	)
		Equity in earnings from unconsolidated entities		(7,003	)		(5,009	)
		Distribution of earnings from unconsolidated entities		7,343			5,769
		Other		3,262			424
	Changes in assets and liabilities:
		Increase in real estate		(193,981	)		(144,450	)
		(Increase)/decrease in deposits on real estate under option or contract		(3,551	)		3,604
		Increase in other receivables, prepaids and other assets		(9,368	)		(10,346	)
		Increase in accounts payable and accrued liabilities		12,944			4,996
		Increase in home sale deposits		3,449			9,349
		Net cash used in operating activities		(110,619	)		(76,948	)
Cash flows from investing activities:
	Investments in unconsolidated entities			(159	)		(282	)
	Purchases of property and equipment			(7,570	)		(7,829	)
	Proceeds from sales of property and equipment			87			62
	Maturities/sales of investments and securities			645			-
	Payments to purchase investments and securities			(645	)		-
		Net cash used in investing activities		(7,642	)		(8,049	)
Cash flows from financing activities:
	Repayment of loans payable and other borrowings			(15,482	)		(3,211	)
	Proceeds from issuance of senior notes			-			200,000
	Debt issuance costs			-			(2,955	)
	Excess income tax (provision)/benefit from stock-based awards			(526	)		2,012
	Proceeds from stock option exercises			232			2,839
		Net cash (used in)/provided by financing activities		(15,776	)		198,685
Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents				(134,037	)		113,688
Beginning cash and cash equivalents				262,208			103,333
Ending cash and cash equivalents			$	128,171		$	217,021


Meritage Homes Corporation and Subsidiaries
Operating Data
(Dollars in thousands) (unaudited)

		Three Months Ended June 30,
		2016			2015
		Homes	Value		Homes	Value
Homes Closed:
	Arizona	279	$	94,048	229	$	71,878
	California	280		156,058	176		95,763
	Colorado	169		82,472	113		52,133
	West Region	728		332,578	518		219,774
	Texas	556		206,907	509		174,397
	Central Region	556		206,907	509		174,397
	Florida	257		103,342	210		91,491
	Georgia	81		27,383	42		13,057
	North Carolina	179		76,507	135		50,214
	South Carolina	88		27,748	91		27,258
	Tennessee	61		21,380	51		14,836
	East Region	666		256,360	529		196,856
	Total	1,950	$	795,845	1,556	$	591,027
Homes Ordered:
	Arizona	331	$	115,812	320	$	102,714
	California	289		165,931	237		131,814
	Colorado	169		84,398	181		84,421
	West Region	789		366,141	738		318,949
	Texas	550		202,948	635		224,195
	Central Region	550		202,948	635		224,195
	Florida	267		106,913	218		92,663
	Georgia	115		38,356	53		16,690
	North Carolina	159		66,944	181		72,667
	South Carolina	118		38,468	99		29,473
	Tennessee	75		25,576	62		21,178
	East Region	734		276,257	613		232,671
	Total	2,073	$	845,346	1,986	$	775,815


		Six Months Ended June 30,
		2016			2015
		Homes	Value		Homes	Value
Homes Closed:
	Arizona	496	$	169,047	415	$	134,479
	California	487		276,778	329		182,186
	Colorado	307		147,799	241		109,987
	West Region	1,290		593,624	985		426,652
	Texas	1,021		366,878	949		326,984
	Central Region	1,021		366,878	949		326,984
	Florida	413		166,664	387		164,322
	Georgia	146		49,397	94		28,515
	North Carolina	297		126,884	224		85,189
	South Carolina	155		48,919	167		51,818
	Tennessee	116		39,096	85		24,820
	East Region	1,127		430,960	957		354,664
	Total	3,438	$	1,391,462	2,891	$	1,108,300
Homes Ordered:
	Arizona	590	$	205,992	608	$	193,305
	California	559		316,943	547		309,911
	Colorado	338		171,024	370		169,828
	West Region	1,487		693,959	1,525		673,044
	Texas	1,141		419,013	1,192		409,327
	Central Region	1,141		419,013	1,192		409,327
	Florida	494		199,507	466		201,520
	Georgia	220		73,551	130		40,908
	North Carolina	348		144,025	329		134,292
	South Carolina	225		72,689	195		59,001
	Tennessee	145		47,202	128		40,535
	East Region	1,432		536,974	1,248		476,256
	Total	4,060	$	1,649,946	3,965	$	1,558,627

Order Backlog:
	Arizona	411	$	154,851	385	$	125,044
	California	361		224,311	430		251,688
	Colorado	363		185,376	397		181,474
	West Region	1,135		564,538	1,212		558,206
	Texas	1,062		402,329	1,101		391,384
	Central Region	1,062		402,329	1,101		391,384
	Florida	368		150,849	316		139,768
	Georgia	169		57,580	89		28,977
	North Carolina	311		128,619	290		117,271
	South Carolina	158		53,881	98		33,303
	Tennessee	111		38,369	82		27,870
	East Region	1,117		429,298	875		347,189
	Total	3,314	$	1,396,165	3,188	$	1,296,779


Meritage Homes Corporation and Subsidiaries
Operating Data
(unaudited)

		Three Months Ended June 30,
		2016		2015
		Ending	Average	Ending	Average
Active Communities:
	Arizona	43	42.5	43	43.5
	California	25	24.5	20	20.5
	Colorado	12	13.0	16	16.0
	West Region	80	80.0	79	80.0
	Texas	73	71.5	66	63.5
	Central Region	73	71.5	66	63.5
	Florida	26	26.0	30	28.0
	Georgia	17	17.5	16	14.5
	North Carolina	22	23.0	25	24.0
	South Carolina	16	16.0	20	20.0
	Tennessee	7	8.0	4	4.5
	East Region	88	90.5	95	91.0
	Total	241	242.0	240	234.5


		Six Months Ended June 30,
		2016		2015
		Ending	Average	Ending	Average
Active Communities:
	Arizona	43	42.0	43	42.0
	California	25	24.5	20	22.0
	Colorado	12	14.0	16	16.5
	West Region	80	80.5	79	80.5
	Texas	73	72.5	66	62.5
	Central Region	73	72.5	66	62.5
	Florida	26	28.5	30	29.5
	Georgia	17	17.0	16	14.5
	North Carolina	22	24.0	25	23.0
	South Carolina	16	17.0	20	20.0
	Tennessee	7	8.0	4	4.5
	East Region	88	94.5	95	91.5
	Total	241	247.5	240	234.5

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's East Bay, the Central Valley and Orange County, California; Houston, Dallas-Ft. Worth, Austin and San Antonio, Texas; Phoenix/Scottsdale, Green Valley and Tucson, Arizona; Denver and Fort Collins, Colorado; Orlando and Tampa, Florida; Raleigh and Charlotte, North Carolina; Greenville-Spartanburg and York County, South Carolina; Nashville, Tennessee; and Atlanta, Georgia.

Meritage Homes has designed and built more than 95,000 homes in its 30-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 in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 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 revenue and earnings growth, projected orders, home closings and home closing revenue, home closing gross margins, tax rates and diluted earnings per share for the third quarter and 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; 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.

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Contact Information:

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

Meritage Homes Reports a 35% Increase in Home Closing Revenue and a 37% Increase in Net Earnings, Resulting in Diluted EPS of $0.95 for the Second Quarter 2016