Lennar narrows loss on cost cuts

Lennar Corp., one of the nation’s largest home builders, said that its sales in the third quarter plunged more than 50% and that it didn’t expect the housing market to improve “for some time to come.”

By slashing costs, Lennar narrowed its loss to $89 million, or 56 cents a share, during the three months ended Aug. 31, from a loss of $513.9 million, or $3.25, in the year-ago quarter. Revenue fell to $1.11 billion from $2.34 billion.

Lennar’s results were in line with Wall Street forecasts, but its outlook disappointed investors, who sent its shares down almost 8%, or $1.01, to $12.73.