Adds details on orders, current quarter outlook
Aug 25 (Reuters) - U.S. luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc TOL.N reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit on Tuesday, benefiting from record-low mortgage rates.
The U.S. housing sector has seen a rapid recovery from the crippling economic fallout of the coronavirus-led lockdowns that idled much of the economy earlier this year.
U.S. homebuilding accelerated about 23% in July, the most in nearly four years, up from a 17.3% rise in June, data from the Commerce Department showed last week.
Borrowing costs at their lowest in almost half a century are aiding sales for homebuilders as the 30-year fixed mortgage rates average just above 3%.
Toll said its orders, an indicator of future revenue, jumped 26.4% to 2,833 homes in the third quarter ended July 31, beating analysts' expectation of 2,051 homes, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.
"We attribute the surge in demand to a number of factors, including historically low interest rates, a continued undersupply of homes, and consumers focused more than ever on the importance of home," Chief Executive Officer Douglas Yearley said.
The company, which withdrew its full-year financial outlook in May, said it expects current quarter home deliveries between 2,400 and 2,550 units, above the Wall Street's estimate of 2,425 homes.
Net income fell to $114.8 million, or 90 cents per share, in the third quarter, from $146.3 million, or $1 per share, a year earlier, but topped expectations of 71 cent per share.
Revenue fell 6.5% to $1.65 billion.
(Reporting by Ankit Ajmera in Bengaluru; Editing by Shounak Dasgupta and Shinjini Ganguli)
((ankit.ajmera@thomsonreuters.com))
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