KB Home says orders may ease; announces offering
KB Home says orders are up thus far but growth pace may ease; announces offering
LOS ANGELES (AP) -- KB Home shares sank in after-hours trading Tuesday after the builder said it expects growth in new home orders to slow in the near future and announced stock and debt offerings.
The company, one of the nation's largest homebuilders, reported that orders for new homes are up 54 percent thus far in its fiscal first quarter. It had 750 orders as of Jan. 18, compared with 488 through Jan. 20 last year.
While the orders are an improvement over the weak performance the year before, the company said relative improvement is expected to moderate as the fiscal first quarter 2013 continues.
The company also said that it is planning a public offering of up to $115 million of its common stock and up to $172.5 million of senior notes. The notes will be convertible into shares of KB Home's common stock.
KB Home said it intends to use the proceeds for general corporate purposes, including potential land acquisition and development.
Citigroup, Credit Suisse, BofA Merrill Lynch and Deutsche Bank Securities will act as joint book-running managers for the proposed offerings.
Shares of KB Home, based in Los Angeles, fell 2.4 percent to $16.70 in after-hours trading on the news. Its shares gained 50 cents, or 3 percent, to close trading at $17.11.
