Kaufman & Broad Profit Falls 3.3%

Kaufman & Broad Home Corp., one of the largest U.S. home builders, said its fiscal second-quarter profit fell 3.3% on lower income from its mortgage banking business. Net income for the Los Angeles-based company fell to $27.7 million, or 68 cents a share, from $28.6 million, or 58 cents, in the year-earlier period. Revenue for the period ended May 31 rose 5.1% to $906.2 million. Results beat the 64-cent average estimate of eight analysts polled by First Call/Thomson Financial. Kaufman & Broad’s pretax income from its mortgage banking business fell by about half to $4.1 million, hurt by interest rate increases and increased competition from Internet mortgage lenders, the company said. During the quarter, Kaufman sold $57.3 million worth of land, up from just over $1 million a year ago. Kaufman said earlier this year that it is looking to generate $300 million to $400 million to pay down debt and buy back additional stock. Shares rose 19 cents to close at $19.06 on the New York Stock Exchange.