Ashton Woods USA L.L.C. Reports 2008 Second Quarter Results and Conference Call

ATLANTA, Jan. 14 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- ASHTON WOODS USA L.L.C.
(Bloomberg: ASHWOO) (CUSIP: 045086 AB 1), one of the nation's largest private
homebuilders based on number of closings and revenues, today reported
financial results for its fiscal second quarter ended November 30, 2007.
Highlights included:

-- Net loss of $15.1 million on revenues of $114.2 million, as compared to
net income of $3.1 million on revenues of $129.4 million in the prior
year's second quarter;
-- Home closings of 359, down 22.8% as compared to the second quarter of
fiscal year 2007;
-- Net new home orders of 161 for the quarter ended November 30, 2007,
representing a decrease of 54.6% compared to the same period in the
prior year;
-- Inventory impairments of $21.3 million, as compared to $4.4 million in
the prior year's second quarter.

Tom Krobot, President and Chief Executive Officer of Ashton Woods USA
L.L.C., said, "Our financial results for the fiscal second quarter ending
November 30, 2007 reflect the continued deterioration of the housing market as
inventory levels of new and used homes remain high. The decline in the
availability of mortgage financing continued to impact cancellation rates
during the quarter resulting in the decline in net new home orders."
Mr. Krobot continued, "We were successful in completing the sale of 280
condominium lots in Orlando which reduced our land owned land supply to 2.4
years and producing approximately $7 million in positive cash flow from
operations during the second quarter. In addition we amended our credit
facility to provide additional covenant flexibility into the future."
The Company will hold a conference call on Tuesday, January 15, 2008, at
10:00 am EST to discuss the results and take questions. To access the
conference call, participants should dial (800) 230-1085. Participants may
call in beginning at 9:50 am EST. The call will be recorded and replayed
beginning 1:30 pm EST on January 15, 2008 through 11:59 PM EST on January 22,
2008. To access the replay dial (800) 475-6701 (reference conference code
905964).
With headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia, Ashton Woods USA L.L.C. is one of
the nation's largest private homebuilders based on the number of home closings
and revenues. The Company currently operates in Atlanta, Dallas, Houston,
Orlando, Phoenix, Denver and Tampa.
Use of Non-GAAP Financial Measures
In addition to the results in this press release reported in accordance
with generally accepted accounting principles in the United States ("GAAP"),
the Company has provided below information regarding EBITDA (earnings before
interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization). EBITDA is not a GAAP
financial measure. EBITDA is a measure commonly used in the homebuilding
industry and is presented as a useful adjunct to net income and other
measurements under GAAP because it is a meaningful measure of a company's
performance, as interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization can vary
significantly between companies due in part to differences in structure,
accounting policies, tax strategies, levels of indebtedness, capital
purchasing practices and interest rates. EBITDA also assists management in
evaluating operating performance, and we believe that it is a useful measure
for investors to compare us with our competitors. A reconciliation of EBITDA
to net (loss) income, the most directly comparable GAAP measure, is provided
below.

ASHTON WOODS USA L.L.C.

CONDENSED CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEETS (UNAUDITED)

November 30, 2007 May 31, 2007
($ in thousands)

Assets
Cash and cash equivalents $584 $38
Inventory:
Construction in progress and
finished homes 147,697 145,434
Land and land under development 197,758 233,504
Real estate not owned 5,374 5,865
Property and equipment, net 7,729 7,405
Accounts receivable 7,218 3,775
Other assets 13,427 14,997
Investments in unconsolidated
entities 5,299 5,455
$385,086 $416,473

Liabilities and Members' equity
Liabilities
Notes payable $185,956 $188,039
Customer deposits 5,034 6,917
Liabilities related to real estate
not owned 4,441 4,767
Accounts payable and accruals 42,397 43,059
Total liabilities 237,828 242,782
Minority interests in real estate not
owned 748 697
Members' equity 146,510 172,994
$385,086 $416,473

ASHTON WOODS USA L.L.C.

CONSOLIDATED STATEMENTS OF EARNINGS

Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
November 30, November 30,
2007 2006 2007 2006
($ in thousands) ($ in thousands)
Statement of Operations Data:
Revenues
Home sales $101,980 $129,051 $199,390 $278,407
Land sales 12,023 230 12,023 7,212
Other 159 156 252 459
114,162 129,437 211,665 286,078
Cost of sales
Home sales 105,494 107,806 197,314 229,389
Land sales 7,462 118 7,462 2,597
112,956 107,924 204,776 231,986
Gross profit (loss)
Home sales (3,514) 21,245 2,076 49,018
Land sales 4,561 112 4,561 4,615
Other 159 156 252 459
1,206 21,513 6,889 54,092
Expenses
Sales and marketing 7,800 8,158 15,190 17,563
General and administrative 7,526 9,349 15,409 19,730
Related Party 215 279 432 599
Franchise taxes 21 53 36 113
Depreciation and amortization 1,386 1,447 2,695 2,995
16,948 19,286 33,762 41,000

Earnings in unconsolidated
entities 640 823 1,156 1,440

Net (loss) income $(15,102) $3,050 $(25,717) $14,532

Other Data:
Homes closed 359 465 720 998
Average sales price per home
closed $284 $278 $277 $279
Home gross margin (3.4%) 16.5% 1.0% 17.6%
Ratio of sales and marketing,
general and administrative and
related party expenses to
revenues 13.6% 13.7% 14.7% 13.2%
Ratio of net (loss) income to
revenues (13.2%) 2.4% (12.1%) 5.1%
Backlog (units) at end of period 521 955 521 955
Sales value of backlog at end of
period $151,647 $290,796 $151,647 $290,796
Active communities at end of
period 50 49 50 49
EBITDA $(10,116) $7,547 $(17,014) $22,910
Net new home orders 161 355 420 715
Land impairments $21,290 $4,377 $34,831 $9,479

Reconciliation of Non-GAAP
disclosure:
Three Months Ended Six Months Ended
November 30, November 30,
2007 2006 2007 2006
($ in thousands) ($ in thousands)

Net (loss) income $(15,102) $3,050 $(25,717) $14,532
Franchise taxes 21 53 36 113
Depreciation and amortization 1,386 1,447 2,695 2,995
Interest expense in cost of sales 3,579 2,997 5,972 5,270
EBITDA $(10,116) $7,547 $(17,014) $22,910

Three Months Ended
November 30,
2007 2006 Change %

Net new home orders (units):

Atlanta 44 99 (55) (55.6%)
Orlando 27 47 (20) (42.6%)
Tampa - 12 (12) (100.0%)
East 71 158 (87) (55.1%)

Dallas 43 54 (11) (20.4%)
Houston 22 81 (59) (72.8%)
Phoenix 17 62 (45) (72.6%)
Denver 8 - 8 n/m
West 90 197 (107) (54.3%)
Company total 161 355 (194) (54.6%)

Six Months Ended
November 30,
2007 2006 Change %

Net new home orders (units):

Atlanta 100 187 (87) (46.5%)
Orlando 58 74 (16) (21.6%)
Tampa 17 25 (8) (32.0%)
East 175 286 (111) (38.8%)

Dallas 88 148 (60) (40.5%)
Houston 81 202 (121) (59.9%)
Phoenix 60 79 (19) (24.1%)
Denver 16 - 16 n/m
West 245 429 (184) (42.9%)
Company total 420 715 (295) (41.3%)

Three Months Ended
November 30,
2007 2006 Change %

Homes closed (units):

Atlanta 60 94 (34) (36.2%)
Orlando 61 67 (6) (9.0%)
Tampa 11 9 2 22.2%
East 132 170 (38) (22.4%)

Dallas 103 116 (13) (11.2%)
Houston 51 91 (40) (44.0%)
Phoenix 61 88 (27) (30.7%)
Denver 12 - 12 n/m
West 227 295 (68) (23.1%)
Company total 359 465 (106) (22.8%)

Six Months Ended
November 30,
2007 2006 Change %

Homes closed (units):

Atlanta 115 207 (92) (44.4%)
Orlando 128 156 (28) (17.9%)
Tampa 28 11 17 154.5%
East 271 374 (103) (27.5%)

Dallas 184 247 (63) (25.5%)
Houston 124 197 (73) (37.1%)
Phoenix 118 180 (62) (34.4%)
Denver 23 - 23 n/m
West 449 624 (175) (28.0%)
Company total 720 998 (278) (27.9%)

Three Months Ended
November 30,
2007 2006 Change %

Average sales price per home closed
($ in thousands):

Atlanta $324 $297 $27 9.1%
Orlando 382 279 103 36.9%
Tampa 385 292 93 31.8%
East 356 290 66 22.8%

Dallas 225 234 (9) (3.8%)
Houston 197 223 (26) (11.7%)
Phoenix 304 367 (63) (17.2%)
Denver 267 - 267 n/m
West 242 270 (28) (10.4%)
Company total $284 $278 $6 2.2%

Six Months Ended
November 30,
2007 2006 Change %

Average sales price per home closed
($ in thousands):

Atlanta $303 $287 $16 5.6%
Orlando 353 272 81 29.8%
Tampa 359 296 63 21.3%
East 332 281 51 18.1%

Dallas 222 227 (5) (2.2%)
Houston 212 218 (6) (2.8%)
Phoenix 304 413 (109) (26.4%)
Denver 269 - 269 n/m
West 243 278 (35) (12.6%)
Company total $277 $279 $(2) (0.7%)

November May 31,
30, 2007 2007 Change %

Backlog (units) at end of period:

Atlanta 67 82 (15) (18.3%)
Orlando 56 126 (70) (55.6%)
Tampa 21 32 (11) (34.4%)
East 144 240 (96) (40.0%)

Dallas 116 212 (96) (45.3%)
Houston 112 155 (43) (27.7%)
Phoenix 134 192 (58) (30.2%)
Denver 15 22 (7) (31.8%)
West 377 581 (204) (35.1%)
Company total 521 821 (300) (36.5%)

November November
30, 2007 30, 2006 Change %

Backlog (units) at end of period:

Atlanta 67 183 (116) (63.4%)
Orlando 56 261 (205) (78.5%)
Tampa 21 49 (28) (57.1%)
East 144 493 (349) (70.8%)

Dallas 116 191 (75) (39.3%)
Houston 112 163 (51) (31.3%)
Phoenix 134 108 26 24.1%
Denver 15 - 15 n/m
West 377 462 (85) (18.4%)
Company total 521 955 (434) (45.4%)

November May 31,
30, 2007 2007 Change %

Sales value of backlog at end of
period ($ in thousands):

Atlanta $18,248 $27,494 $(9,246) (33.6%)
Orlando 20,337 47,150 (26,813) (56.9%)
Tampa 7,427 13,101 (5,674) (43.3%)
East 46,012 87,745 (41,733) (47.6%)

Dallas 26,539 46,705 (20,166) (43.2%)
Houston 27,713 33,520 (5,807) (17.3%)
Phoenix 47,724 62,799 (15,075) (24.0%)
Denver 3,659 5,465 (1,806) (33.0%)
West 105,635 148,489 (42,854) (28.9%)
Company total $151,647 $236,234 $(84,587) (35.8%)

November November
30, 2007 30, 2006 Change %

Sales value of backlog at end of
period ($ in thousands):

Atlanta $18,248 $54,761 $(36,513) (66.7%)
Orlando 20,337 87,608 (67,271) (76.8%)
Tampa 7,427 20,419 (12,992) (63.6%)
East 46,012 162,788 (116,776) (71.7%)

Dallas 26,539 46,749 (20,210) (43.2%)
Houston 27,713 41,653 (13,940) (33.5%)
Phoenix 47,724 39,606 8,118 20.5%
Denver 3,659 - 3,659 n/m
West 105,635 128,008 (22,373) (17.5%)
Company total $151,647 $290,796 $(139,149) (47.9%)

November May 31,
30, 2007 2007 Change %

Active communities at end of
period:

Atlanta 9 8 1 12.5%
Orlando 6 6 - 0.0%
Tampa 3 2 1 50.0%
East 18 16 2 12.5%

Dallas 10 11 (1) (9.1%)
Houston 12 8 4 50.0%
Phoenix 9 8 1 12.5%
Denver 1 1 - 0.0%
West 32 28 4 14.3%
Company total 50 44 6 13.6%

November November
30, 2007 30, 2006 Change %

Active communities at end of
period:

Atlanta 9 11 (2) (18.2%)
Orlando 6 7 (1) (14.3%)
Tampa 3 3 - 0.0%
East 18 21 (3) (14.3%)

Dallas 10 11 (1) (9.1%)
Houston 12 9 3 33.3%
Phoenix 9 8 1 12.5%
Denver 1 - 1 n/m
West 32 28 4 14.3%
Company total 50 49 1 2.0%

SOURCE Ashton Woods USA L.L.C.

Bob Salomon, +1-770-998-9663