US housebuilder Lennar (NYSE:LEN) unveiled forecast-topping third quarter numbers but its shares fell following worse-than-expected housing data.
America’s second biggest residential construction company posted net income attributable to shareholders of US$235.8mln, or US$1.01 per share, up from US$223.3mln, or 96 cents per share a year ago. The company's revenue rose 13.7% to US$2.83bn in the third quarter.
The market consensus was for 89 cents per share and revenue of US$2.68bn.
The Florida-based company sold 6,779 homes in the three months to the end of August, up 7.3% from a year earlier, while average sales price rose more than 3%.
Orders, a key indicator of future revenue for homebuilders, rose to 7,018 homes from 6,495.
But official statistics showed US housing starts declining by 5.8% month on month to an annualized 1,142,000 against a consensus of 1,190,000 in August, up 0.9% year on year.
Analysts at Berenberg said: “The weaker-than-expected housing starts in August are likely a weather story, as starts gained in all regions except the south (-14.8%) where Louisiana was impacted by serious floods.”