UPDATE 3-Toll Brothers loss wider than expected
* Q2 loss $0.52/shr vs loss $0.50 expected
* Says order cancellations leveling off, buyers emerge
* Analyst says Toll poised to gain market share
* Shares down 1.4 pct (Recasts, adds dateline, analyst comment, background on recent home sale data)
NEW YORK, June 3 (Reuters) - Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc (TOL.N) posted a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, but said order cancellations were leveling off and some buyers were emerging to take advantage of low mortgage rates.
The second-quarter net loss was $83.2 million, or 52 cents a share, compared with a net loss of $93.7 million, or 59 cents a share, in the year-ago quarter.
The latest quarter results included pre-tax writedowns of $119.6 million, or 48 cents a share.
Analysts on average were expecting a loss of 50 cents a share, excluding items, on revenue of $399.4 million, according to Reuters Estimates.
Revenue for the quarter fell 51 percent to $398.3 million, while order backlog decreased 55 percent to $944.3 million. Net signed contracts dropped 40 percent $298.3 million.
"With interest rates near historic lows and housing affordability near historic highs, it appears that some buyers are beginning to re-enter the new home market," Chief Executive Robert Toll said in a statement.
"The recently reported strong rise in consumer confidence was consistent with our recent experience," he added, noting that a measure of buyers' deposits has improved in nine of the past 11 weeks.
Toll's order cancellation rate, at 21.7 percent, marked an improvement from both the prior quarter and from a year ago. The company also noted it had no public debt maturing until 2013.
POISED TO GAIN SHARE?
Toll's balance sheet "remains among the best in the group," said UBS analyst David Goldberg in a research note. He noted the company has $1.96 billion in cash, $1.34 billion available on credit lines, and limited near term debt maturities. Continued...
