Pulte sees Q4 improvement

Pulte Homes revenues for 2009 fell-35% to US$ 3.97 billion, compared to US$ 6.11 billion in 2008. This fall was despite the company's merger with Centex, another major house builder, in August 2009.

The company's net loss for the year was US$ 1.18 billion, a slight improvement on the US$ 1.47 billion loss in 2008. However, the company's lower revenues mean its profitability was worse in margin terms -29.8% in 2009 compared to -24.1% in 2008.

Having said that, the company's loss narrowed to US$ 116 billion on revenues of US$ 1.69 billion in the final quarter of the year, compared to a loss of US$ 338 million on revenues of US$ 1.61 billion in the final quarter of 2008. Although there was a rise in revenues in the final quarter of 2009, these are not like-for-like figures, as the 2009 figures include Centex, but the pre-merger 2008 ones do not.

Chairman, president & CEO Richard J. Dugas said, "Fourth quarter gains in sign-up pace, adjusted margins, overhead, leverage cash and other critical business metrics are reflective of the company's improvement in overall business performance."