Forestar Group Inc. Reports First Quarter 2013 Results

Accelerating Value Realization through Higher Residential Lot Sales, Increased Oil Production and Capitalizing on Multifamily Opportunities

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AUSTIN, Texas--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Forestar Group Inc. (FOR) today reported first quarter 2013 net income of approximately $4.0 million, or $0.11 per diluted share, compared with first quarter 2012 net income of approximately $2.8 million, or $0.08 per diluted share outstanding.

“During first quarter, increased residential lot sales activity continued to reflect positive momentum and signs of a sustainable housing recovery. Residential real estate markets in Texas continue to benefit from low finished lot inventories combined with a significant increase in housing starts. Multifamily market conditions also remain strong in our target markets, and during the quarter, we sold Promesa, a wholly-owned multifamily community we developed in Austin, for $41 million, generating earnings of $10.9 million. In addition, oil and gas revenues continued to gain momentum, with increased oil production in the Bakken and Three Forks formations in North Dakota and the Lansing-Kansas City formation in Kansas and Nebraska, principally due to our acquisition of Credo Petroleum. We are focused on executing and delivering our Triple in FOR strategic initiatives to accelerate value realization, optimize transparency and disclosure and grow net asset value through strategic and disciplined investments,” said Jim DeCosmo, president and chief executive officer of Forestar Group.

First Quarter 2013 Significant Highlights

  • Sold Promesa, a wholly-owned multifamily community we developed in Austin for $41 million, generating earnings of $10.9 million
  • Sold 446 developed residential lots, a 56% increase compared with first quarter 2012
  • Oil production up over 113% compared with first quarter 2012, principally due to the acquisition of Credo Petroleum

Segment Reporting Change

Forestar has realigned its reportable segments to better reflect the underlying market fundamentals and operating strategy of its core businesses. With this change, we have aggregated our fiber and water resources operating results in other natural resources. The company manages its operations through three business segments: real estate, oil and gas and other natural resources.

REAL ESTATE

First Quarter 2013 Significant Highlights

  • Sold Promesa, a wholly-owned multifamily community we developed in Austin for $41.0 million, generating earnings of $10.9 million
  • Sold 446 developed residential lots, a 56% increase compared with first quarter 2012 – Almost 1,800 lots under option contracts
  • Sold 919 acres of undeveloped land for over $2,900 per acre
  • Sold 3 commercial acres for over $382,000 per acre

Segment Financial Results:

($ in millions)     1Q 2013     1Q 2012     4Q 2012
 
Segment Revenues $ 78.7 $ 17.9 $ 48.4
 
Segment Earnings $ 19.4 $ 11.6 $ 21.7
 

First quarter 2013 real estate segment earnings were higher compared with first quarter 2012 principally due to higher residential lot sales. Real estate segment earnings declined in first quarter 2013 compared with fourth quarter 2012 primarily due to lower undeveloped land sales.

OIL AND GAS

First Quarter 2013 Significant Highlights

  • Oil production up over 113% compared with first quarter 2012, principally due to the acquisition of Credo Petroleum
  • 22 new productive oil and gas wells drilled; 965 producing wells at quarter-end, up from 534 wells in first quarter 2012, principally due to acquisition of Credo Petroleum

Segment Financial Results:

($ in millions)     1Q 2013     1Q 2012     4Q 2012
 
Segment Revenues $ 15.5 $ 9.4 $ 17.2
 
Segment Earnings $ 5.1 $ 7.1 $ 7.1
 

Oil and gas segment earnings decreased in first quarter 2013 compared with first quarter 2012 principally due to reduced oil volumes associated with our owned mineral interests, lower oil prices, decreased delay rental revenues and incremental personnel costs, which were partially offset by increased oil production attributable to the acquisition of Credo Petroleum. Oil and gas segment earnings decreased in first quarter 2013 compared with fourth quarter 2012 primarily due to lower oil production, which was partially offset by higher oil prices.

OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES

First Quarter 2013 Significant Highlights

  • Sold over 191,000 tons of fiber for $15.65 per ton
  • Recreational leasing remains strong

Segment Financial Results:

($ in millions)     1Q 2013     1Q 2012     4Q 2012
 
Segment Revenues $ 3.3 $ 0.7 $ 3.0
 
Segment Earnings (Loss) $ 1.3 ($0.9 ) $ 0.8
 

First quarter 2013 other natural resources segment earnings were higher compared with first quarter 2012 principally due to over 162,000 tons of additional fiber sales and a 35% increase in average pricing per ton. Other natural resources segment earnings increased in first quarter 2013 compared with fourth quarter 2012 primarily due to higher fiber sales.

OUTLOOK

“Housing markets continue to show solid signs of a sustainable recovery, with growing demand for residential lots and increased interest in residential and commercial tracts. Our backlog remains strong and we are well positioned to accelerate real estate sales during this housing recovery. Our multifamily team successfully developed, leased, and monetized our Promesa community in only 24 months, generating well above cost of capital returns for our business, reflections of the project quality, experience of our team and favorable multifamily market conditions. We continue to build a solid pipeline of multifamily development opportunities, with construction at our multifamily ventures in Austin and Denver on target to begin delivering units in 2013, and our sites in Dallas, Nashville and Charlotte should be under construction by year-end. We will continue to evaluate and acquire additional multifamily sites to further increase our pipeline of quality multifamily development opportunities.

“We continue to generate positive momentum through our oil and gas initiatives to increase exploration activity, production and reserves. During first quarter, we experienced a significant increase in North Dakota drilling activity, with approximately twelve Bakken or Three Forks wells (5% average working interest) reaching total depth during the quarter. We anticipate drilling activity in the Bakken to accelerate in the second half of 2013. In addition, exploration and drilling activity in Kansas and Nebraska also ramped up during first quarter, with 19 wells (59% average working interest) reaching total depth, ten of which have been economic. Our exploration initiatives in Kansas and Nebraska are yielding favorable success rates and strong risk-adjusted returns, and we continue to lease additional acreage in this basin. During first quarter 2013, Forestar acquired leasehold interests in over 28,000 net mineral acres in new and existing prospects in Nebraska and Kansas.

“We continue to increase our momentum toward delivering our Triple in FOR strategic initiatives, focused on accelerating value realization, increasing transparency and disclosure, and growing our net asset value through strategic and disciplined investments. We are off to a great start and we are well positioned for 2013,” concluded Mr. DeCosmo.

The Company will host a conference call on May 8, 2013 at 10:00 am ET to discuss results of first quarter 2013. The meeting may be accessed through webcast or by conference call. The webcast may be accessed through Forestar’s Internet site at www.forestargroup.com. To access the conference call, listeners calling from North America should dial 1-877-280-4958 at least 15 minutes prior to the start of the meeting. Those wishing to access the call from outside North America should dial 1-857-244-7315. The password is Forestar. Replays of the call will be available for two weeks following the completion of the live call and can be accessed at 1-888-286-8010 in North America and at 1-617-801-6888 outside North America. The password for the replay is 95046996.

About Forestar Group

Forestar Group Inc. operates in three business segments: real estate, oil and gas and other natural resources. At the end of first quarter 2013, the real estate segment owns directly or through ventures almost 135,000 acres of real estate located in ten states and fourteen markets in the U.S. The real estate segment has 14 real estate projects representing approximately 25,980 acres currently in the entitlement process, and 72 entitled, developed and under development projects in eight states and twelve markets encompassing almost 14,400 acres, comprised of almost 23,600 planned residential lots and almost 2,400 commercial acres. The oil and gas segment includes approximately 792,000 net acres of oil and gas mineral interests, with approximately 590,000 acres of fee ownership located principally in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia and almost 202,000 net acres of leasehold interests principally located in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Texas. These leasehold interests include almost 6,000 net mineral acres in the core of the prolific Bakken and Three Forks formations. The other natural resources segment includes sale of wood fiber and management of our recreational leases, and approximately 1.5 million acres of groundwater resources, including a 45% nonparticipating royalty interest in groundwater produced or withdrawn for commercial purposes from approximately 1.4 million acres in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama and about 20,000 acres of groundwater leases in central Texas. Forestar’s address on the World Wide Web is www.forestargroup.com.

Forward-Looking Statements

This release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the federal securities laws. Forward-looking statements are typically identified by words or phrases such as “will,” “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “intend,” “plan,” “believe,” “target,” “forecast,” and other words and terms of similar meaning. These statements reflect management’s current views with respect to future events and are subject to risk and uncertainties. We note that a variety of factors and uncertainties could cause our actual results to differ significantly from the results discussed in the forward-looking statements, including our ability to achieve synergies and value creation contemplated by the merger with Credo, and our ability to promptly and effectively integrate Credo’s businesses. Other factors and uncertainties that might cause such differences include, but are not limited to: general economic, market, or business conditions; changes in commodity prices; opportunities (or lack thereof) that may be presented to us and that we may pursue; fluctuations in costs and expenses including development costs; demand for new housing, including impacts from mortgage credit availability; lengthy and uncertain entitlement processes; cyclicality of our businesses; accuracy of accounting assumptions; competitive actions by other companies; changes in laws or regulations; and other factors, many of which are beyond our control. Except as required by law, we expressly disclaim any obligation to publicly revise any forward-looking statements contained in this news release to reflect the occurrence of events after the date of this news release.

   
 
FORESTAR GROUP INC.
(UNAUDITED)
 

Business Segments

 
First Quarter
2013 2012
(In thousands,

except per share)

Revenues

Real estate $ 78,689 $ 17,922
Oil and gas 15,504 9,426
Other natural resources   3,278     744  
Total revenues $ 97,471   $ 28,092  
 

Segment earnings

Real estate $ 19,446 $ 11,577
Oil and gas 5,127 7,128
Other natural resources   1,252     (863 )
Total segment earnings 25,825 17,842
 
Items not allocated to segments:
General and administrative expense (4,958 ) (4,362 )
Share-based compensation expense (10,415 ) (5,231 )
Interest expense (4,539 ) (3,891 )
Other corporate non-operating income   31     64  
Income before taxes 5,944 4,422
Income tax expense   (1,993 )   (1,620 )
Net income attributable to Forestar Group Inc. $ 3,951   $ 2,802  
 
Net income per common share:
Basic $ 0.11 $ 0.08
Diluted $ 0.11 $ 0.08
 
Weighted average common shares outstanding:

Basic

35.3

34.9

Diluted

35.7

35.2
 
First Quarter

Supplemental Financial Information:

2013 2012
(In thousands)
 
Cash and cash equivalents $ 86,653 $ 6,801
 
Borrowings under credit facility $ 200,000 $ 136,000
Convertible senior notes, net of discount (a) 97,593 -
Other debt (b)   31,027     91,865  
Total debt $ 328,620   $ 227,865  
(a)   Represents $125 million convertible senior notes issued February 2013, net of unamortized discount
(b) Consists principally of consolidated venture non-recourse debt.
   
 

FORESTAR GROUP INC.

REAL ESTATE SEGMENT

PERFORMANCE METRICS

 
First Quarter
REAL ESTATE 2013     2012
Owned, Consolidated & Equity Method Ventures:
Residential Lots Sold 446 285
Revenue per Lot Sold $ 51,900 $ 53,000
Commercial Acres Sold 3 -
Revenue per Commercial Acre Sold $ 382,700 -
Undeveloped Acres Sold 919 455
Revenue per Acre Sold $ 2,900 $ 2,400
Owned & Consolidated Ventures:
Residential Lots Sold 355 137
Revenue per Lot Sold $ 52,500 $ 62,000
Commercial Acres Sold 3 -
Revenue per Commercial Acre Sold $ 382,700 -
Undeveloped Acres Sold 919 320
Revenue per Acre Sold $ 2,900 $ 2,300
Ventures Accounted For Using the Equity Method:
Residential Lots Sold 91 148
Revenue per Lot Sold $ 49,600 $ 44,600
Commercial Acres Sold - -
Revenue per Commercial Acre Sold - -
Undeveloped Acres Sold - 135
Revenue per Acre Sold - $ 2,600
                 
 

FIRST QUARTER 2013

REAL ESTATE PIPELINE

 
Real Estate Undeveloped

In
Entitlement
Process

Entitled

Developed &
Under
Development

Total
Acres*

 
Undeveloped Land
Owned 87,543 94,444
Ventures 6,901
 
Residential
Owned 23,272 9,005 821 35,277
Ventures 1,898 281
 
Commercial
Owned 2,708 1,201 591 5,077
Ventures 387 190
 
Total Acres 94,444 25,980 12,491 1,883 134,798
                             
Estimated Residential Lots           20,500     3,063     23,563

* In addition, Forestar owns a 58% interest in a venture which controls approximately 16,000 acres of undeveloped land in Georgia with minimal investment. Excludes acres associated with fully developed commercial and income producing properties.

   
 

FORESTAR GROUP INC.

OIL AND GAS SEGMENT

PERFORMANCE METRICS

 
First Quarter
2013     2012
Leasing Activity from Owned Mineral Interests
Acres Leased

310

805
Average Bonus / Acre $

316

$ 357
Delay Rentals Received $ 457,500 $ 1,114,900
Oil & Gas Production

Royalty Interests1

Gross Wells 543 534
Oil Production (Barrels) 48,200 67,700
Average Oil Price ($ / Barrel) $ 85.93 $ 98.10
Natural Gas Production (MMcf) 377.2 427.9
Average Natural Gas Price ($ / Mcf) $ 3.04 $ 3.20
BOE Production2 111,100 139,000
Average Price ($ / BOE) $ 47.64 $ 57.61

Working Interests

Gross Wells 431 9
Oil Production (Barrels) 99,600 1,500
Average Oil Price ($ / Barrel) $ 90.76 $ 73.68
Natural Gas Production (MMcf) 216.7 24.3
Average Natural Gas Price ($ / Mcf) $ 3.67 $ 3.75
BOE Production2 135,800 5,500
Average Price ($ / BOE) $ 72.47 $ 36.32

Total Oil & Gas Interests

Gross Wells3 965 534
Oil Production (Barrels) 147,900 69,200
Average Oil Price ($ / Barrel) $ 89.19 $ 97.57
Natural Gas Production (MMcf) 593.9 452.2
Average Natural Gas Price ($ / Mcf) $ 3.27 $ 3.23
BOE Production2 246,800 144,600
Average Price ($ / BOE) $ 61.30 $ 56.80
Well Activity

Mineral Interests Owned 3

Net Acres Held By Production 29,000 31,700
Gross Wells Drilled - 4
Productive Gross Wells 543 534

Mineral Interests Leased

Net Acres Held By Production4 30,000 -
Gross Wells Drilled 22 -
Productive Gross Wells4 422 -

Total Well Activity

Net Acres Held By Production 59,000 31,700
Gross Wells Drilled 22 4
Productive Gross Wells       965     534
1   Includes our share of venture activity in which we own a 50% interest. Our share of natural gas production is 70 MMcf in first quarter 2013 and 90 MMcf in first quarter 2012
2 BOE – Barrels of oil equivalent (converting natural gas to oil at 6 Mcfe / Bbl)
3 Includes wells operated by third-party lessees/operators. Represent wells in which we own a royalty or working interest in a producing well
4 Excludes 8,000 net acres and 1,181 wells in which we have an overriding royalty interest
 

FIRST QUARTER 2013
OIL AND GAS SEGMENT
MINERAL INTERESTS

MINERAL INTERESTS OWNED 1

Forestar’s oil and gas segment includes approximately 590,000 owned net mineral acres principally located in Texas, Louisiana, Georgia and Alabama.

State   Unleased   Leased  

Held by
Production

  Total 2
Texas 213,000 12,000 27,000 252,000
Louisiana 117,000 25,000 2,000 144,000
Georgia 152,000 - - 152,000
Alabama 40,000 - - 40,000
California 1,000 - - 1,000
Indiana 1,000 - - 1,000
Total   524,000   37,000   29,000   590,000
1   Represents net acres and includes ventures
2 Excludes 477 net mineral acres located in Colorado, which includes 319 leased acres and 158 acres held by production
 

MINERAL INTERESTS LEASED 1

Forestar’s oil and gas segment includes approximately 202,000 net mineral acres of leasehold interests principally located in Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma, North Dakota and Texas, predominantly as a result of our September 28, 2012 acquisition of CREDO Petroleum.

State   Undeveloped  

Held by
Production

  Total 2
Nebraska 107,000 2,000 109,000
Kansas 40,000 3,000 43,000
Oklahoma - 17,000 17,000
North Dakota 3,000 3,000 6,000
Texas 6,000 2,000 8,000
Other 16,000 3,000 19,000
Total   172,000   30,000   202,000
1   Represents net acres
2 Excludes approximately 8,000 net acres of overriding royalty interests
   
 

FORESTAR GROUP INC.

OTHER NATURAL RESOURCES SEGMENT

PERFORMANCE METRICS

 
First Quarter
2013   2012
Fiber Sales *
Pulpwood Tons Sold 120,600 24,400
Average Pulpwood Price / Ton $ 11.70 $ 10.18
Sawtimber Tons Sold 70,900 4,400
Average Sawtimber Price / Ton $ 22.36 $ 19.48
 
Total Tons Sold 191,500 28,800
Average Price / Ton $ 15.65 $ 11.59
 
Recreational Activity
Average Acres Leased 122,700 130,900
Average Lease Rate / Acre $ 9.15 $ 8.80

*The majority of our fiber sales were to International Paper at market prices.

       
 
FORESTAR GROUP INC.
PROJECTS IN ENTITLEMENT
 

A summary of projects in the entitlement process (a) at first quarter-end 2013 follows:

 

Project

County

Project
Acres (b)

 

California

Hidden Creek Estates Los Angeles 700
Terrace at Hidden Hills Los Angeles 30
 

Georgia

Ball Ground Cherokee 500
Crossing Coweta 230
Fincher Road Cherokee 3,890
Fox Hall Coweta 960
Garland Mountain Cherokee/Bartow 350
Martin’s Bridge Banks 970
Mill Creek Coweta 770
Serenity Carroll 440
Wolf Creek Carroll/Douglas 12,230
Yellow Creek Cherokee 1,060
 

Texas

 

Lake Houston Harris/Liberty 3,700
San Jacinto Montgomery 150
 

Total

25,980

(a)

  A project is deemed to be in the entitlement process when customary steps necessary for the preparation of an application for governmental land-use approvals, like conducting pre-application meetings or similar discussions with governmental officials, have commenced, or an application has been filed. Projects listed may have significant steps remaining, and there is no assurance that entitlements ultimately will be received.

(b)

Project acres, which are the total for the project regardless of our ownership interest, are approximate. The actual number of acres entitled may vary.
   
 
FORESTAR GROUP INC.
REAL ESTATE PROJECTS
 

A summary of our entitled,(a) developed & under development projects at first quarter-end 2013 follows:

 

Residential Lots (c)

Commercial Acres (d)

Project

County

Interest
Owned(b)

Lots Sold Since

Inception

 

Lots
Remaining

Acres Sold Since

Inception

 

Acres
Remaining(f)

California

San Joaquin River Contra Costa/

Sacramento

100% - - - 288

Colorado

Buffalo Highlands Weld 100% - 164 - -
Johnstown Farms Weld 100% 170 443 2 7
Pinery West Douglas 100% - - - 111
Stonebraker Weld 100% - 603 - -

Tennessee

Azalea Park Williamson 100% - 173 - -

Texas

Arrowhead Ranch Hays 100% - 259 - 6
Bar C Ranch Tarrant 100% 292 907 - -
Barrington Kingwood Harris 100% 61 119 - -
Cibolo Canyons Bexar 100% 753 722 96 54
Harbor Lakes Hood 100% 205 244 2 19
Hunter’s Crossing Bastrop 100% 411 79 38 71
La Conterra Williamson 100% 127 373 - 58
Lakes of Prosper Collin 100% 5 280 - -
Maxwell Creek Collin 100% 820 179 10 -
Oak Creek Estates Comal 100% 141 506 13 -
Stoney Creek Dallas 90% 149 605 - -
Summer Creek Ranch Tarrant 100% 834 440 35   44
Summer Lakes Fort Bend 100% 484 646 56 -
Summer Park (g) Fort Bend 100% - 210 28 62
The Colony Bastrop 100% 441 708 22 31
The Preserve at Pecan Creek Denton 100% 399 395 - 7
Village Park Collin 100% 516 244 3 2
Westside at Buttercup Creek Williamson 100% 1,428 68 66 -
Other projects (10) Various 100% 2,085 171 218 36

Georgia

Seven Hills Paulding 100% 666 420 26 113
Villages of Burt Creek Dawson 100% - 1,715 - 57
Towne West Bartow 100% - 2,674 - 121
Other projects (17) Various 100% 72 3,021 - 705

Florida

Other projects (2) Various 100% 301 87 - -

Missouri and Utah

Other projects (2) Various 100% 499 55 - -
10,859 16,510 615 1,792
Projects in entities we consolidate

Texas

City Park Harris 75% 1,218 93 50 115
Lantana Denton

55%

(e)

774 1,276 - 12
Timber Creek Collin 88% - 614 - -
Willow Creek Farms II Walter/Fort Bend 90% 40 191 - -
Other projects (2) Various Various 7 202 - 129

Georgia

The Georgian Paulding 75% 289 1,052 - -
2,328 3,428 50 256
Total owned and consolidated 13,187 19,938 665 2,048
Projects in ventures that we account for using the equity method

Texas

Entrada Travis 50% - 821 - -
Fannin Farms West Tarrant 50% 324 24 - 12
Harper’s Preserve Montgomery 50% 244 1,481 - 72
Lantana Denton

Various

(e)

1,163 62 16 42
Long Meadow Farms Fort Bend 37% 1,025 774 119 180
Southern Trails Brazoria 80% 603 380 - -
Stonewall Estates Bexar 50% 305 83 - -
Other projects (1) Nueces 50% - - - 15
Total in ventures 3,664 3,625 135 321
Combined Total 16,851 23,563 800 2,369
(a)   A project is deemed entitled when all major discretionary governmental land-use approvals have been received. Some projects may require additional permits and/or non-governmental authorizations for development.
(b) Interest owned reflects our net equity interest in the project, whether owned directly or indirectly. There are some projects that have multiple ownership structures within them. Accordingly, portions of these projects may appear as owned, consolidated and/or accounted for using the equity method.
(c) Lots are for the total project, regardless of our ownership interest. Lots remaining represent vacant developed lots, lots under development and future planned lots and are subject to change based on business plan revisions.
(d) Commercial acres are for the total project, regardless of our ownership interest and are net developable acres, which may be fewer than the gross acres available in the project.
(e) The Lantana project consists of a series of 22 partnerships in which our voting interests range from 25% to 55%. We account for two of these partnerships using the equity method and we consolidate the remaining partnerships.
(f) Excludes acres associated with commercial and income producing properties.
(g) Formerly Waterford Park
 

A summary of our significant commercial and income producing properties at first quarter-end 2013 follows:

          Interest            
Project     County     Market   Owned (a)     Type     Acres     Description
Radisson Hotel Travis Austin 100% Hotel 2 413 guest rooms and suites
Eleven Travis Austin 25% Multifamily 3 257 unit luxury apartment (b)
360° Arapahoe Denver 20% Multifamily 4 304 unit luxury apartment (b)
 
(a)   Interest owned reflects our total equity interest in the project, whether owned directly or indirectly.
(b) Construction in progress

Contact:
Forestar Group Inc.
Anna E. Torma, 512-433-5312

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