Dec. 3--Pretax write-downs and early debt retirement increased Toll Bros. Inc.'s fourth-quarter losses to $111.4 million, or 68 cents a share, the Horsham luxury-home builder said today.

Analysts had predicted a loss of 46 cents a share. Without the $111.7 million in write-downs and early debt-retirement and other charges, the builder's pretax loss for the quarter would have been $9.6 million, the company said.

In the fourth quarter of 2008, Toll's net loss was $78.8 million, or 49 cents a share, which included $175.9 million in write-downs and an $11.1 million noncash expense for deferred tax-asset valuation allowances. That quarter's pretax earnings without inventory and other write-downs, were $69.9 million.

Chairman and chief executive officer Robert I. Toll said that after a year of massive government intervention, the debate is focused on when and how quickly the economy and housing will recover.

The builder's declining cancellation rate, which cheered investors when preliminary fourth-quarter results in November, and what Toll called the improved pace of contract signings "provide some signs of recovery," he said.

Toll also said that some factors, including unemployment and plummeting home values in some regions, were weighing heavily on the housing market, even though affordability is at an all-time high, 30-year fixed mortgage rates are below 5 percent (4.71 percent today), and inventories are declining.

Toll said he anticipated a gradual housing recovery, similar to that of the early 1990s' recession.

Fourth-quarter net signed contracts totaled 765 units valued at $430.8 million, compared with 539 units and $266.7 million in the 2008 fourth quarter.

For Toll's fiscal year ended Oct. 31, Toll reported a net loss of $755.8 million, or $4.68 a share, which was affected by noncash pretax inventory and other write-downs. Excluding these write-downs and charges, the full year pretax loss was $6.1 million.

In fiscal 2008, the full-year net loss was $297.8 million, or $1.88 a share. Without write-downs and other charges, Toll's pretax earnings were $341.9 million in fiscal 2008, the company reported.

Chief financial officer Joel H. Rassman said Toll expected to deliver fewer homes in 2010 than the 2,965 it had in 2009 -- projecting a delivery of 2,000 to 2,750 next year, at an average price of $540,000 to $560,000.

He said that, because of incentives, fewer deliveries, and a lower selling price, the cost of sales as a percent of revenue, before taking into account write-downs, will be higher in 2010 than in 2009.

Toll said the company recently had been competing for "a greater number of attractive land acquisition opportunities from financial institutions and other sellers," hoping to take advantage of opportunities arising from "the current state of distress in our industry."

Toll Bros. closed today at $18.02, down $1.47, on the New York Stock Exchange.

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Contact real estate writer Alan J. Heavens at 215-854-2472 or aheavens@phillynews.com.

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