TRI Pointe Group, Inc. Reports 2018 Second Quarter Results

-Home Sales Revenue up 35% on a 13% Increase in Deliveries and a 19% Increase in Average Sales Price-
-Backlog Dollar Value up 13% on an 8% Increase in Backlog Units-
-Homebuilding Gross Margin Percentage Increased 130 Basis Points to 21.4%-
-Diluted Earnings Per Share of $0.42, up from $0.21 in the Prior Year-

IRVINE, Calif., July 27, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- TRI Pointe Group, Inc. (the "Company") TPH today announced results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018.

Results and Operational Data for Second Quarter 2018 and Comparisons to Second Quarter 2017

• Net income available to common stockholders was $63.7 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, compared to $32.7 million, or $0.21 per diluted share
• New home orders of 1,343 compared to 1,445, a decrease of 7%
• Active selling communities averaged 130.8 compared to 126.8, an increase of 3%
  • New home orders per average selling community were 10.3 orders (3.4 monthly) compared to 11.4 orders (3.8 monthly)
  • Cancellation rate increased to 16% compared to 15%
• Backlog units at quarter end of 2,271 homes compared to 2,108, an increase of 8%
  • Dollar value of backlog at quarter end of $1.5 billion compared to $1.3 billion, an increase of 13%
  • Average sales price of homes in backlog at quarter end of $668,000 compared to $635,000, an increase of 5%
• Home sales revenue of $768.8 million compared to $568.8 million, an increase of 35%
  • New home deliveries of 1,215 homes compared to 1,071 homes, an increase of 13%
  • Average sales price of homes delivered of $633,000 compared to $531,000, an increase of 19%
• Homebuilding gross margin percentage of 21.4% compared to 20.1%, an increase of 130 basis points
  • Excluding interest and impairments and lot option abandonments, adjusted homebuilding gross margin percentage was 24.0%*
• SG&A expense as a percentage of homes sales revenue of 10.7% compared to 11.6%, a decrease of 90 basis points
• Ratios of debt-to-capital and net debt-to-net capital of 41.7% and 37.4%*, respectively, as of June 30, 2018
• Ended second quarter of 2018 with total liquidity of $826.7 million, including cash of $239.9 million and $586.8 million of availability under the Company's unsecured revolving credit facility

*      See "Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures"

"We are very pleased with our results this quarter as we met or exceeded our guidance for deliveries, ASPs, homebuilding gross margin and SG&A leverage," said TRI Pointe Group CEO Doug Bauer.  "We generated pretax income of nearly $85 million in the quarter, representing a 63% increase over the second quarter of last year.  This year-over-year increase in profits was a function of both higher revenues and better gross margins, a strong indication that our business remains on solid footing.  We continue to see positive fundamentals in the overall housing market, characterized by low inventory levels, improving wage gains, employment growth and consumer demand from millennials to baby boomers.  These macro fundamentals, coupled with our strong balance sheet, consistent execution and strategic focus on design and innovation have TRI Pointe Group well positioned as we head into the second half of the year."

Second Quarter 2018 Operating Results

Net income available to common stockholders was $63.7 million, or $0.42 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2018, compared to net income available to common stockholders of $32.7 million, or $0.21 per diluted share, for the second quarter of 2017.

Home sales revenue increased $200.0 million, or 35%, to $768.8 million for the second quarter of 2018, as compared to $568.8 million for the second quarter of 2017.  The increase was primarily attributable to a 19% increase in the average sales price of homes delivered to $633,000, compared to $531,000 in the second quarter of 2017, and a 13% increase in new home deliveries to 1,215, compared to 1,071 in the second quarter of 2017.

New home orders decreased 7% to 1,343 homes for the second quarter of 2018, as compared to 1,445 homes for the same period in 2017.  Average selling communities increased 3% to 130.8 for the second quarter of 2018 compared to 126.8 for the second quarter of 2017.  The Company's overall absorption rate per average selling community decreased 10% for the second quarter of 2018 to 10.3 orders (3.4 monthly) compared to 11.4 orders (3.8 monthly) during the second quarter of 2017.

The Company ended the quarter with 2,271 homes in backlog, representing approximately $1.5 billion. The average sales price of homes in backlog as of June 30, 2018 increased $33,000, or 5%, to $668,000, compared to $635,000 as of June 30, 2017.

Homebuilding gross margin percentage for the second quarter of 2018 increased to 21.4%, compared to 20.1% for the second quarter of 2017.  Excluding interest and impairments and lot option abandonments in cost of home sales, adjusted homebuilding gross margin percentage was 24.0%* for the second quarter of 2018, compared to 22.5%* for the second quarter of 2017.  Gross margin percentage increased at each of our homebuilding segments for the quarter as compared to the prior-year period.  In addition, the percentage of deliveries from California, which generally produce gross margins above the company average, increased compared to the same period in the prior year.

Selling, general and administrative ("SG&A") expense for the second quarter of 2018 decreased to 10.7% of home sales revenue as compared to 11.6% for the second quarter of 2017, primarily due to increased leverage as a result of a 35% increase in home sales revenue.

"While we pride ourselves on consistent execution every quarter, our attention remains squarely focused on positioning our company for longer-term success," said TRI Pointe Group Chief Operating Officer Tom Mitchell.  "For TRI Pointe, that meant continuing to build out the longer-dated assets we acquired in the WRECO transaction rather than booking short term land-sale profits.  Now over four years removed from this transaction, these assets continue to contribute significantly to our bottom line and provide us with a healthy runway of lots.  Today, we are taking the same long-term approach with each of our brands with an eye toward increasing our local market scale and creating a more diversified company."

* See "Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures"

Outlook

For the third quarter of 2018, the Company expects to open 15 new communities, and close out of 17, resulting in 128 active selling communities as of September 30, 2018.  In addition, the Company anticipates delivering 50% to 55% of its 2,271 units in backlog as of June 30, 2018 at an average sales price of $630,000.  The Company anticipates its homebuilding gross margin percentage will be in a range of 21.0% to 21.5% for the third quarter.  Finally, the Company expects its SG&A expense as a percentage of home sales revenue to be in the range of 10.8% to 11.2% for the third quarter.

For the full year 2018, the Company is reiterating its guidance of growing average selling communities by 5% compared to 2017 and delivering between 5,100 and 5,400 homes.  The Company is increasing its expected average sales price for the full year to $625,000 from $610,000.  The Company continues to expect its homebuilding gross margin percentage for the full year 2018 to be in the range of 21.0% to 21.5%, SG&A expense as a percentage of home sales revenue to be in the range of 9.9% to 10.3% and its effective tax rate to be in the range of 25% to 26%.

Earnings Conference Call

The Company will host a conference call via live webcast for investors and other interested parties beginning at 10:00 a.m. Eastern Time on Friday, July 27, 2018.  The call will be hosted by Doug Bauer, Chief Executive Officer, Tom Mitchell, President and Chief Operating Officer and Mike Grubbs, Chief Financial Officer.

Interested parties can listen to the call live and view the related presentation slides on the internet through the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at www.TRIPointeGroup.com. Listeners should go to the website at least fifteen minutes prior to the call to download and install any necessary audio software.  The call can also be accessed by dialing 1-877-407-3982 for domestic participants or 1-201-493-6780 for international participants.  Participants should ask for the TRI Pointe Group Second Quarter 2018 Earnings Conference Call.  Those dialing in should do so at least ten minutes prior to the start.  The replay of the call will be available for two weeks following the call.  To access the replay, the domestic dial-in number is 1-844-512-2921, the international dial-in number is 1-412-317-6671, and the reference code is #13681373.  An archive of the webcast will be available on the Company's website for a limited time.

About TRI Pointe Group, Inc.

Headquartered in Irvine, California, TRI Pointe Group, Inc. TPH is among the largest public homebuilders in the United States. The company designs, constructs and sells premium single-family homes through its portfolio of six quality brands across eight states, including Maracay^TM in Arizona; Pardee Homes^® in California and Nevada; Quadrant Homes^® in Washington; Trendmaker^® Homes in Texas; TRI Pointe Homes^® in California and Colorado; and Winchester^® Homes in Maryland and Virginia.  Additional information is available at www.TRIPointeGroup.com. Winchester is a registered trademark and is used with permission.

Forward-Looking Statements

Various statements contained in this press release, including those that express a belief, expectation or intention, as well as those that are not statements of historical fact, are forward-looking statements.  These forward-looking statements may include, but are not limited to, statements regarding our strategy, projections and estimates concerning the timing and success of specific projects and our future production, land and lot sales, operational and financial results, including our estimates for growth, financial condition, sales prices, prospects, and capital spending.  Forward-looking statements that are included in this press release are generally accompanied by words such as "anticipate," "believe," "could," "estimate," "expect," "future," "goal," "guidance," "intend," "likely," "may," "might," "outlook," "plan," "potential," "predict," "project," "should," "strategy," "target," "will," "would," or other words that convey future events or outcomes.  The forward-looking statements in this press release speak only as of the date of this press release, and we disclaim any obligation to update these statements unless required by law, and we caution you not to rely on them unduly.  These forward-looking statements are inherently subject to significant business, economic, competitive, regulatory and other risks, contingencies and uncertainties, most of which are difficult to predict and many of which are beyond our control.  The following factors, among others, may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to differ materially from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements: the effect of general economic conditions, including employment rates, housing starts, interest rate levels, availability of financing for home mortgages and strength of the U.S. dollar; market demand for our products, which is related to the strength of the various U.S. business segments and U.S. and international economic conditions; levels of competition; the successful execution of our internal performance plans, including any restructuring and cost reduction initiatives; global economic conditions; raw material prices; oil and other energy prices; the effect of weather, including the re-occurrence of drought conditions in California; the risk of loss from earthquakes, volcanoes, fires, floods, droughts, windstorms, hurricanes, pest infestations and other natural disasters, and the risk of delays, reduced consumer demand, and shortages and price increases in labor or materials associated with such natural disasters; transportation costs; federal and state tax policies; the effect of land use, environment and other governmental regulations; legal proceedings or disputes and the adequacy of reserves; risks relating to any unforeseen changes to or effects on liabilities, future capital expenditures, revenues, expenses, earnings, synergies, indebtedness, financial condition, losses and future prospects; changes in accounting principles; risks related to unauthorized access to our computer systems, theft of our customers' confidential information or other forms of cyber-attack; and additional factors discussed under the sections captioned "Risk Factors" included in our annual and quarterly reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission.  The foregoing list is not exhaustive.  New risk factors may emerge from time to time and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors or to assess the impact of such risk factors on our business.

Investor Relations Contact:

Chris Martin, TRI Pointe Group
Drew Mackintosh, Mackintosh Investor Relations
InvestorRelations@TRIPointeGroup.com, 949-478-8696

Media Contact:
Carol Ruiz, cruiz@newgroundco.com, 310-437-0045

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⁽¹⁾ Homes under construction included 88 and 60 models at June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, respectively.
* See "Reconciliation of Non-GAAP Financial Measures"

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⁽¹⁾ As of June 30, 2018 and December 31, 2017, lots controlled included lots that were under land option contracts or purchase contracts.

RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES
(unaudited)

In this press release, we utilize certain financial measures that are non-GAAP financial measures as defined by the Securities and Exchange Commission. We present these measures because we believe they and similar measures are useful to management and investors in evaluating the Company's operating performance and financing structure. We also believe these measures facilitate the comparison of our operating performance and financing structure with other companies in our industry. Because these measures are not calculated in accordance with Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("GAAP"), they may not be comparable to other similarly titled measures of other companies and should not be considered in isolation or as a substitute for, or superior to, financial measures prepared in accordance with GAAP.

The following tables reconcile homebuilding gross margin percentage, as reported and prepared in accordance with GAAP, to the non-GAAP measure adjusted homebuilding gross margin percentage. We believe this information is meaningful as it isolates the impact that leverage has on homebuilding gross margin and permits investors to make better comparisons with our competitors, who adjust gross margins in a similar fashion.

RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (continued)
(unaudited)

The following table reconciles the Company's ratio of debt-to-capital to the non-GAAP ratio of net debt-to-net capital. We believe that the ratio of net debt-to-net capital is a relevant financial measure for management and investors to understand the leverage employed in our operations and as an indicator of the Company's ability to obtain financing.

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⁽¹⁾ The ratio of debt-to-capital is computed as the quotient obtained by dividing debt by the sum of debt plus equity.
⁽²⁾ The ratio of net debt-to-net capital is computed as the quotient obtained by dividing net debt (which is debt less cash and cash equivalents) by the sum of net debt plus equity.

RECONCILIATION OF NON-GAAP FINANCIAL MEASURES (continued)
(unaudited)

The following table calculates the non-GAAP financial measures of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA and reconciles those amounts to net income, as reported and prepared in accordance with GAAP.  EBITDA means net income before (a) interest expense, (b) expensing of previously capitalized interest included in costs of home sales, (c) income taxes and (d) depreciation and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA means EBITDA before (e) amortization of stock-based compensation, (f) impairments and lot option abandonments and (g) restructuring charges. Other companies may calculate EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (or similarly titled measures) differently. We believe EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are useful measures of the Company's ability to service debt and obtain financing.