Century munities(US:CCS)2025-01-29 23:00Financial Data and Key Metrics Changes - Full year 2024 deliveries increased by 15% year over year to a record 11,007 homes, with Q4 deliveries of 3,198 homes and home sales revenues of $1,200,000,000, both quarterly records [5][17] - Adjusted net income for the full year increased by 36% year over year, with Q4 adjusted net income up 18% [6] - Adjusted gross margin for the full year increased by 80 basis points to 23.3% [5] - SG&A as a percentage of home sales revenues decreased by 40 basis points [6][22] - Book value per share grew to a record $84.65, a 13% year over year increase [24] Business Line Data and Key Metrics Changes - The company built nearly 100% of its homes on a spec basis in Q4 and for the full year [8] - Net new contracts for Q4 increased by 5% year over year to 2,467 homes, while full year net new contracts increased by 21% to 10,676 homes [6][19] - Average sales price for Q4 and full year was approximately $390,000, remaining among the lowest of publicly traded homebuilders [7] Market Data and Key Metrics Changes - Deliveries in the West, Texas, and Southeast regions all posted growth rates of over 20% for the full year [18] - The company ended Q4 with a community count of 322, the highest level in its history, up 28% year over year [12] - The average price of the Q4 backlog was $413,100, above the average sales price for Q4 deliveries [19] Company Strategy and Development Direction - The company aims to grow deliveries annually by 10% or more over the next couple of years, supported by increases in lot count and community count [12][25] - The company is focused on maintaining an appropriate sales pace despite elevated mortgage rates and is leveraging its captive mortgage subsidiary to provide financing options [8][25] - The company plans to continue its M&A strategy, having completed two acquisitions in 2024 to deepen its presence in existing markets [40] Management Comments on Operating Environment and Future Outlook - Management expressed optimism about underlying demand for new homes, citing solid demographic trends despite recent mortgage rate volatility [7][25] - The company expects to manage costs effectively, with direct construction costs declining by 2% year over year [13] - Management anticipates that the first quarter of 2025 will see a decline in deliveries due to typical seasonality, but expects growth to resume in subsequent quarters [18] Other Important Information - The company repurchased over 1,000,000 shares, returning over $115,000,000 to shareholders in 2024 [23][24] - The company entered into a new credit agreement, increasing the capacity of its senior unsecured credit facility to $900,000,000 [24] Q&A Session Summary Question: Differences in traffic levels or incentives between Communities and Complete - Management noted no significant differences in incentives, with slightly more on the mortgage financing side for Century Complete [30] Question: Percentage of homes sold and closed in Q4 - Approximately 60% of homes were sold and closed within the quarter, consistent with the company's spec model [32][33] Question: Current incentive levels on orders - Incentive levels are consistent with Q4, around 900 basis points [36] Question: M&A potential for 2025 - Management is always looking at deals and has stringent underwriting criteria, with no immediate plans for additional acquisitions beyond those already made [40][41] Question: Impact of recent labor issues on construction - Management has not seen any impacts to date but is monitoring the situation closely [50][51] Question: Relative strength across different markets - The West and Mountain regions are performing well, with Southern California and Atlanta noted as strong markets [55][57] Question: ASP expectations for 2025 - The guidance implies flat to slightly down ASP, focusing on affordability [59] Question: Other income contribution details - The primary driver of other income was the disposal of a community, contributing around $20,000,000 [60] Question: Share repurchase strategy - The strategy is to prevent share count creep while opportunistically buying back shares [63]