UPDATE 2-Mexico's Geo Q3 net profit up 4.7 pct
(Adds background)
MEXICO CITY, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Mexican homebuilder Geo posted a 4.7 percent rise in third-quarter net profit on Thursday, as revenue grew 10 percent year-on-year.
Geo (GEOB.MX) said its July-September net profit was 372.4 million pesos ($34 million), while quarterly revenue rose to 3.777 billion pesos as units sold rose 3 percent to 11,023 homes.
Quarterly core earnings, or EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization), rose 6.4 percent to 885.6 million pesos, making a slightly lower EBITDA margin of 23.4 percent.
Geo said the lower margin was due to it having sold more homes in the low-income sector in the third quarter.
Shares in Geo ended down 0.88 percent on Thursday at 44.93 pesos, near 12-month lows. Geo's stock slumped last month after the company cut its third-quarter revenue growth forecast.
Mexican home building companies have enjoyed a bonanza since former president Vicente Fox made building homes, mainly for low earners, a cornerstone of his 2000-2006 administration. His successor Felipe Calderon has vowed to continue the drive.
But Geo's September announcement that it was cutting forecast revenue growth for the third quarter to 10-11 percent from 17-20 percent knocked down shares across the sector.
Geo's rivals include Homex (HOMEX.MX) (HXM.N), Urbi (URBI.MX) and Ara (ARA.MX). This week, Homex reported a 15 percent increase in net profit, Urbi posted a 25.5 percent rise and Ara's net fell 11 percent.
