NEW YORK (Reuters) - Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers on Thursday posted a quarterly profit, mainly helped by lower expenses and an income tax benefit.
The company reported earnings of $50.5 million, or 30 cents per share, compared with a loss of $111.4 million, or 68 cents per share, a year earlier.
The number of net signed contracts fell 27 percent in the quarter to 558 units as demand for new homes remained soft.
"2010 was another challenging year for our company and our industry as the persistent drag of high unemployment, reduced home equity, weak consumer confidence and frustration with the nation's economic and political climate outweighed the appeal of historic low interest rates and tremendous home affordability," Chief Executive Officer Douglas Yearley Jr said.
Selling, general and administrative expenses fell 13 percent to $69.2 million. The largest U.S. luxury homebuilder reported an income tax benefit of $59.9 million for the quarter, compared with a loss of $4.7 million a year ago.
Revenue fell 17 percent to $402.6 million.
Analysts on average were expecting a loss of 8 cents a share on revenue of $393.8 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Write-downs on land that have lost value were also lower this year, totaling $27 million in the fourth quarter, compared with $85.5 million last year.
Shares of the Horsham, Pennsylvania-based company, which lost 15 percent of their value in the last six months, closed at $18.46 on Wednesday on the New York Stock Exchange.
(Reporting by Helen Chernikoff; Editing by Maureen Bavdek)