May 9--Irvine-based homebuilder Standard Pacific Corp. paid $10.3 million in severance benefits to 380 employees laid off during the first four months of the year, the company announced in its first-quarter financial report issued Friday.

That leaves fewer than 900 employees, down 30 percent since the first of the year, when the firm had fewer than 1,300.

Before January, the company eliminated about 1,600 jobs nationwide -- 69 percent of its peak work force -- as it went from 24 operating divisions to nine. In other earnings news, the company reported: Net losses of $49.5 million, its 10th quarterly loss in a row.

The smallest amount of red ink in two years, with losses reaching as high as $441 million in the fourth quarter of 2007.

In all, net losses over the past 2 1/2 years -- including paper losses due to reduced asset values -- totaled $2.1 billion.

The number of homes sold fell 41 percent from the first quarter of 2008, to 734 new homes vs. 1,245 in the same period a year ago.

The average price of a Standard Pacific home in California fell 15 percent, to $453,000. Nationwide, the average sales price fell 11.5 percent, to $307,000.

South Coast Plaza hiring A reader asked how one might go about applying for a job at the Prada and Miu Miu boutiques, which are set to open this fall at South Coast Plaza.

Applicants should contact their stores in Beverly Hills. Prada is at 310-278-8661 and Miu Miu is at 310-247-2227.

Twenty-seven stores and restaurants currently open at South Coast Plaza are also hiring for positions including sales associate, store manager, chef and makeup artist.

Stomp onto this job The Elephant Bar, scheduled to open in Laguna Hills in June, is hiring for positions ranging from line cooks to servers.

A temporary hiring center has been set up in the Laguna Hills Mall near Coffee Bean.

About 1,000 applications have been received. The hiring center is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

Register staff writers Jeff Collins, Candice Shih and Greg Hardesty contributed to this report.

-----

To see more of The Orange County Register, or to subscribe to the newspaper, go to http://www.ocregister.com.

Copyright (c) 2009, The Orange County Register, Calif.

Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.

For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

SPF,

A service of YellowBrix, Inc.