SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
FORM 10-K
ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE
SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the fiscal year ended December 31, 2002
Commission File Number: 001-31524
BROOKFIELD HOMES CORPORATION
| Delaware (State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization) |
37-1446709 (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
|
| 12865 Pointe Del Mar Suite 200 Del Mar, California (Address of Principal Executive Offices) |
92014 (Zip Code) |
(858) 481-8500
(Registrants Telephone Number, Including Area Code)
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
| Title of Each Class Common Stock |
Name of Each Exchange On Which Registered New York Stock Exchange |
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports) and (2) has been subject to such filings requirements for the past 90 days.
| Yes o | No x |
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrants knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K x.
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is an accelerated filer (as defined in Exchange Act Rule 12b-2).
| Yes o | No x |
The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant is approximately $185,505,256 based upon the closing market price on March 10, 2003 of a share of common stock on the New York Stock Exchange.
As of March 10, 2003, the registrant had outstanding 32,073,781 shares of its common stock, $0.01 par value per share.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrants 2003 definitive Proxy Statement, to be filed with the Commission no later than April 30, 2003, are incorporated by reference into Item 11 (Executive Compensation), Item 12 (Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management) and Item 13 (Certain Relationships and Related Transactions) of Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
PART I
Item 1. Business
Introduction
Brookfield Homes Corporation (Brookfield Homes) is a residential homebuilder and land developer, building homes and developing land in master-planned communities and infill locations (unless the context requires otherwise, references in this report to we, our, us and the company refer to Brookfield Homes and its subsidiaries). We design, construct and market single-family and multi-family homes primarily to move-up and luxury buyers, and we develop land on which we build homes or which we sell to other homebuilders. Our operations are currently focused primarily in four markets: the San Francisco Bay Area; the Southland / Los Angeles Area; San Diego / Riverside; and Northern Virginia. We have targeted these markets because we believe they offer strong housing demand, a constrained supply of developable land and close proximity to areas we expect to continue to see strong employment growth. Our operations in Northern Virginia commenced in the mid 1980s and our California operations commenced in 1996.
General Development of Our Business
We were incorporated on August 28, 2002 in Delaware as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Brookfield Properties Corporation (Brookfield Properties) in order to acquire all of the California and Northern Virginia homebuilding and land development operations of Brookfield Properties pursuant to a reorganization of its residential homebuilding business (which we refer to as the Spin-off). On January 6, 2003, Brookfield Properties completed the Spin-off by distributing all of the issued and outstanding common stock it owned in our company to its common stockholders. We began trading as a separate company on the New York Stock Exchange on January 7, 2003, under the symbol BHS.
The following chart summarizes our principal operating subsidiaries in the markets in which we operate and the year in which Brookfield Properties commenced operations:
| Market | Year of Entry | Principal Subsidiary | ||||
| San Francisco Bay Area | 1996 | Brookfield Bay Area Holdings LLC | ||||
| Southland/Los Angeles | 1996 | Brookfield Southland Holdings LLC | ||||
| San Diego/Riverside | 1996 | Brookfield San Diego Holdings LLC | ||||
| Northern Virginia | 1984 | Brookfield Washington LLC | ||||
We also formed Brookfield California Land Holdings LLC to purchase and acquire options to purchase land in California, an operation that commenced in 1998.
Overview of the Residential Homebuilding and Land Development Industry
The residential homebuilding and land development industry involves converting raw or undeveloped land into residential housing. This process begins with the purchase of raw land and is followed by the development of the land, and the marketing and sale of homes constructed on the land.
Raw Land
Raw land is land that is unzoned and without the other regulatory approvals which allow the erection of residential, industrial, commercial or mixed-use buildings. Acquiring and holding raw land requires significant capital expenditures and has associated carrying costs, including property taxes. The selection and purchase of raw land provides the inventory required for development purposes and is an important aspect of the real estate development process. Land developers will, from time to time, sell raw or partially approved land to other homebuilders and land developers as part of the normal course of their business.
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Land Development
Land development involves the conversion of raw land to the stage where homes may be constructed on the land. Regulatory bodies at the municipal, regional and state levels must approve the proposed end use of the land and many of the details of the development process. The time required to obtain the necessary approvals varies. In most jurisdictions, development occurs on a contiguous basis to existing land services such as water and sanitation.
To shorten the development period, many developers purchase land that has been partially developed. This land is generally more expensive than raw land because a portion of the costs and risk associated with the development have been incurred.
Generally, the first significant step in developing a residential community is to complete a draft plan incorporating major street patterns and designating parcels of land for various uses, such as parks, schools, rights of way and residential and commercial uses. This plan is then submitted for approval to the governmental authority with principal jurisdiction in the area. The draft plan is then refined to more specifically designate main and side streets, lot sizes for residential use and the sizes and locations of parcels of land to be used for schools, parks, commercial properties and multi-family dwellings. These refinements are usually made in consultation with local planning officials. The plan is then submitted to various local governmental agencies, such as conservation authorities, school boards, parks and recreation boards, governing councils and others, for their review and comment based upon their respective land use policies. In most cases, this process takes several years to complete.
Once the plan has been approved, the developer generally commences negotiations with the local governmental authority on a formal development agreement, which governs the principal aspects of the construction of the community. These negotiations generally involve the review and approval of engineering designs pertaining to various aspects of the development, such as the construction and installation of sewers, water mains, utilities, roads and sidewalks. At the same time, the allocation of the costs of these items between the governmental authority and the developer, and the amount of tax or levy which the developer will pay in order to obtain final approval of the plan, must be settled.
Upon execution of the development agreement, the developer generally posts a bond or letter of credit with the local governmental authority to secure the developers obligations and the plan receives final approval. The developer is then generally required to convey to the local municipality, for no consideration, the land upon which roads, sidewalks, rights of way and parks will be constructed. Land for schools, if any, is sold to the local school board usually at slightly less than its market value. It is then the school boards responsibility to construct the schools. The developer is usually responsible for the grading of the land and the installation of sewers, water mains, utilities, roads and sidewalks, while the municipality is usually responsible for the construction of recreational and community amenities such as libraries and community centers. The municipality funds its portion of these costs through taxes or levies charged to the developer in connection with plan approvals and through the collection of property taxes from local residents.
After a period of one to two years, following the completion by the developer of certain of its obligations under the development agreement, the municipality takes responsibility from the developer for the underground services, roads and sidewalks, and a portion of the bond or letter of credit posted by the developer is released. The developer is generally required to maintain the remaining portion of the bond or letter of credit with the municipality for several years after completion of the community to ensure performance by the developer of its remaining obligations under the development agreement.
Home Construction and Marketing
Residential home construction involves the actual construction of single-family houses and multi-family buildings such as townhouses and condominiums. Each dwelling is generally referred to as a unit. A plan typically includes a large number of lots on which single-family units will be situated and a smaller number of blocks of land which have been designated for the construction of multi-family units, schools, parks and commercial buildings. The approved development plan specifically provides the total number of lots and blocks in the project. The construction phase normally involves consulting, architectural, engineering, interior design, merchandising and marketing personnel who assist the homebuilder in planning the project. Residential home construction is usually performed by subcontractors under the supervision of the homebuilders construction management personnel.
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Marketing and sales of residential units are effected by marketing sales staff employed by the homebuilder or by independent realtors, depending upon the usual practices in the jurisdiction where the project is located. Pre-selling residential units before the commencement of their construction is a common sales practice that usually involves the creation of model units or drawings of the proposed units in a sales location close to or within the project.
Narrative Description of Our Business
We design, construct and market single-family and multi-family homes primarily to move-up and luxury homebuyers, and we develop land on which we build homes or which we sell to other homebuilders. In each of our four markets, we operate through local business units which are involved in all phases of the planning and building of our master-planned communities and infill developments. These phases include sourcing and evaluating land acquisitions, site planning, obtaining government entitlements, developing the land, product design, constructing, marketing and selling homes and homebuyer customer service. In the five year period ended December 31, 2002, we closed a total of 7,782 homes. A home is considered closed when title has passed to the homebuyer.
We believe we have developed a reputation for innovative planning of master-planned communities and infill developments. Master-planned communities are new home communities that typically feature community centers, parks, recreational areas, schools and other amenities. Within a master-planned community there may be smaller neighborhoods offering a variety of home styles and price levels from which homebuyers may choose. In an infill development, we construct homes in previously urbanized areas on under-utilized land. In connection with planning and building each of our master-planned communities and infill developments, we consider, among other things, amenities, views, traffic flows, open space, schools and security.
In 2002, we closed a total of 1,554 homes, compared with 1,645 in 2001. The decline in home closings was primarily due to our operations in San Diego / Riverside, where we had only three active projects in 2002 compared with six active projects in 2001. The breakdown of our home closings by market in the last three years is as follows:
| (Units) | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | |||||||||
San Francisco Bay Area |
273 | 213 | 339 | |||||||||
Southland/Los Angeles |
527 | 500 | 261 | |||||||||
San Diego/Riverside |
293 | 450 | 301 | |||||||||
Northern Virginia |
461 | 482 | 566 | |||||||||
Total |
1,554 | 1,645 | 1,467 | |||||||||
Our average home price in 2002 was $505,000 per home, an increase of 14% over 2001. This increase was due to our product mix and continued price appreciation of homes within our projects. The breakdown of the average prices on our home closings in the last three years is as follows:
| 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Average | Average | Average | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sales | Price | Sales | Price | Sales | Price | |||||||||||||||||||
| (Millions) | (Millions) | (Millions) | ||||||||||||||||||||||
San Francisco Bay Area |
$ | 167 | $ | 612,000 | $ | 107 | $ | 502,000 | $ | 145 | $ | 428,000 | ||||||||||||
Southland/Los Angeles |
330 | 626,000 | 305 | 610,000 | 154 | 590,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
San Diego/Riverside |
98 | 334,000 | 141 | 313,000 | 119 | 397,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
Northern Virginia |
190 | 412,000 | 176 | 365,000 | 172 | 304,000 | ||||||||||||||||||
Total |
$ | 785 | $ | 505,000 | $ | 729 | $ | 443,000 | $ | 590 | $ | 402,000 | ||||||||||||
Our backlog at December 31, 2002 of orders for delivery in 2003 was 30% of our planned 1,550 home closings in 2003. Backlog represents the number of homes subject to pending sales contracts.
For more detailed financial information with respect to our revenues, earnings and assets, please see the accompanying consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this report.
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Business Strategy
Our goal is to maximize the total return on our common stockholders equity over the long term. The key elements of our strategy to achieve this goal are as follows:
Selective Acquisition Policies
We intend to continue to grow by selectively acquiring land that provides us with attractive residential projects that are consistent with our overall strategy and management expertise. We acquire land only if we believe that it will provide us with a minimum return on our invested capital. In determining the minimum return we will accept, we take into account the risk inherent in increasing our land inventory and the specific development project. In making additional land acquisitions in one of our current markets, we also consider the recent financial returns that we have achieved in that market.
In order to expand our market opportunities, we also selectively pursue joint venture projects with landowners, other homebuilders and intermediaries. We are generally active participants in our joint ventures. In certain circumstances, we acquire options to purchase land rather than purchasing the land outright, in order to reduce our initial cost of controlling land.
Creating Communities
We seek to acquire land that allows us to create communities that include recreational amenities such as parks, biking and walking trails, efficient traffic flows, schools and public services facilities. We integrate land planning and development with housing product design in order to deliver lifestyle, comfort and value. We cooperate with local and regulatory authorities in order to be responsive to community conditions and we attempt to balance our goal of maximizing the value of our land with the impact of development on the community and the environment. We encourage our employees to actively participate in local community activities and associations.
High Growth Markets and Geographic Diversification
Based on United States Census Bureau data, during the 1996 to 2002 period, each of the primary markets in which we operate was among the fastest growing markets in the United States in terms of employment and housing permits, key economic indicators of demand for new homes. Although three of our markets are located in California, we believe that each of our California markets is distinct in terms of its economic and demographic characteristics. By operating in different markets, we believe that we reduce the risk that an adverse change in any local economy will materially and adversely affect our business and financial results. While we believe that there are significant growth opportunities in our existing markets, we also intend to evaluate opportunities to enter new markets that have similar growth opportunities.
Decentralized Operating Structure
We operate our homebuilding business through local business units responsible for projects in their geographic area. Each of our business units has significant experience in the homebuilding industry in the market in which it operates. We believe that in-depth knowledge of a local market enables our business units to better meet the needs of our customers and to more effectively address the issues that arise on each project. Our business units are responsible for all elements of the homebuilding process, including sourcing and evaluating land acquisitions, site planning and entitlements, developing the land, product design, constructing, marketing and selling homes built on the land, customer service and management reporting. Each business unit operates as a fully integrated profit center and the senior management of each business unit is compensated through a combination of base salary and participation in his or her business units profits.
We maintain a small corporate team that sets our strategic goals and overall strategy. The corporate team approves all acquisitions, allocates capital to the business units based on expected returns and levels of risk, establishes succession plans, ensures operations maintain a consistent level of quality, evaluates risk and holds management of the business units accountable for the performance of their business unit.
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Risk Management
We focus on managing risk in each stage of the homebuilding and land development process. In the land acquisition phase, we use options and joint ventures to mitigate the risk that land values will decline due to poor economic or real estate market conditions, or that we will be unable to obtain approval for development of a proposed community. We attempt to limit development approval risk by conducting significant due diligence before we close land acquisitions. Furthermore, we generally participate in land developments which we believe will allow us to sell our interest or take other protective actions should a downturn in the real estate market occur. We sell lots and parcels when we can enhance our returns, reduce risk in a market or redeploy capital to an asset providing higher returns.
When constructing homes, we strive to satisfy our customers and limit our product liability risk by:
| | selecting carefully the building materials that we use; | |
| | emphasizing to our employees and subcontractors that our homes are to be built to meet a high standard of quality and workmanship; | |
| | using only insured subcontractors to perform construction activities; | |
| | providing on-site quality control; and | |
| | providing after-sales service. |
Finally, we attempt to limit the risk of overbuilding by matching our construction starts to our sales rates. We generally do not begin selling homes until a significant portion of the homes construction cost has been established through firm subcontractor bids.
Asset Profile
Our assets are focused on single-family and multi-family homebuilding in the markets in which we operate. They consist primarily of housing and land inventory and investments in housing and land joint ventures. Our total assets as of December 31, 2002 were $844 million, of which $667 million was located in California and $177 million was located in Northern Virginia.
As of December 31, 2002, we controlled 22,128 lots. Controlled lots include those we directly own, our proportionate share of those owned by our joint ventures and those that we have the option to purchase. We believe that our controlled lots provide a strong foundation for our future homebuilding business. The number of residential building lots we control in each of our primary markets as of December 31, 2002 follows:
| Owned | ||||||||||||||||
| (Lots) | Directly | Joint Ventures | Options | Total Lots | ||||||||||||
San Francisco Bay Area |
863 | 1,188 | 3,205 | 5,256 | ||||||||||||
Southland/Los Angeles |
477 | 220 | 297 | 994 | ||||||||||||
San Diego/Riverside |
5,054 | 2,000 | 4,055 | 11,109 | ||||||||||||
Northern Virginia |
1,750 | 187 | 2,832 | 4,769 | ||||||||||||
Total |
8,144 | 3,595 | 10,389 | 22,128 | ||||||||||||
Our housing and land inventory includes homes completed or under construction, developed land and raw land. The book value of our housing and land inventory in each of our primary markets as of December 31, 2002 follows:
| December | ||||
| (Book Value, $ millions) | 31, 2002 | |||
San Francisco Bay Area |
$ | 169 | ||
Southland/Los Angeles |
112 | |||
San Diego/Riverside |
199 | |||
Northern Virginia |
136 | |||
Total |
$ | 616 | ||
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The book value of our investments in housing and land joint ventures as of December 31, 2002 was $81 million. The total book value of the assets and liabilities of these joint ventures and our share of the equity of the joint ventures as of December 31, 2002 follows:
| December | ||||
| (Book Value, $ millions) | 31, 2002 | |||
Assets |
$ | 367 | ||
Liabilities |
$ | 211 | ||
Brookfield Homes net investment |
$ | 81 | ||
The primary housing markets in which we operate continue to exhibit strong economic fundamentals which we believe allows us to participate in a number of projects without undue risk. The following describes our major projects:
Windemere, San Francisco Bay Area. Windemere is a 5,200 unit master-planned community located on one of the last premier infill tracts of residential housing land in the East Bay area of San Francisco. Windemere was acquired under option in 1998, final approvals were obtained in 2000 and lot sales commenced in 2001. We hold a one-third interest in Windemere, with the other two-thirds owned equally by Centex Corporation and Lennar Communities. We have no affiliation with Centex Corporation or Lennar Communities. We directly own 313 units in Windemere and our share of the remaining joint venture units is 1,188 units.
Newport Coast, Southland/Los Angeles. Newport Coast is a major ocean-oriented master-planned community owned by the Irvine Company. We acquire lots in Newport Coast on a rolling option basis, and believe we have developed a strong reputation among upper-end buyers in Orange County, California. We have closed more than 300 homes since 1999, and as of December 31, 2002, we had under contract to purchase or option 322 lots in Newport Coast.
Calavera Hills, San Diego/Riverside. Calavera Hills is an 800 acre property located in the coastal community of Carlsbad. We completed Phase I of the project with the construction of 483 homes. Approvals for Phase II were obtained for 642 units, and grading commenced in 2002. Phase III, planned with 400 units, is currently being processed by the regulatory authorities. We hold a 50% interest in Calavera Hills, with the remaining 50% held by McMillin Companies. We have no affiliation with McMillin Companies.
Sycamore Canyon, San Diego/Riverside. Sycamore Canyon is a 2,132 acre project located in San Diego County. The project was acquired under option in 1998, and in 2002, final approvals were obtained and we completed the acquisition and commenced grading of the site. We hold a 50% interest in Sycamore Canyon, with the remaining 50% held by McMillin Companies. We directly own 168 units and our share of the remaining joint venture is 244 units.
Winding Walk, San Diego/Riverside. Winding Walk (Otay Ranch Village II) in south San Diego is a 1,200 acre project. Grading commenced in 2002 on the site, approved for 2,268 units. We hold a 50% interest in this project with the remaining 50% held by Shea Homes. We have no affiliation with Shea Homes.
University Commons, San Diego/Riverside. University Commons is a 416 acre site located in the inland coastal area of San Diego. Grading of the site commenced in 2002, and we anticipate the delivery of serviced lots in the spring of 2003. We expect that University Commons will provide a total of 581 single-family and multi-family units. We hold a 100% interest in University Commons.
Braemar, Northern Virginia. Braemar is a 3,100 unit master-planned community located in Prince William County, that began development in 1994. Since 1999, we have closed over 1,000 homes and lots. As of December 31, 2002, we had 1,516 lots remaining in Braemar in which we hold a 100% interest.
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Property Acquisition and Sale
Before entering into an agreement to purchase land, we complete comparative studies and analyses that assist us in evaluating the acquisition. We manage our risk and attempt to maximize our return on invested capital on land acquisitions by either entering into option agreements or joint venture arrangements, or by purchasing the land outright. We attempt to limit our development approval risk by conducting significant due diligence before we close land acquisitions. Furthermore, we generally seek to participate in land developments which we believe will allow us to sell our interest or take other protective actions should a downturn in the real estate market occur.
We believe that we have an adequate supply of land in our existing markets to maintain, on average, our operations at their current levels for at least the next five years. We continually evaluate our land inventory and strategically sell lots and parcels of land to third parties at various stages of the development process to increase our returns from a project. For the year ended December 31, 2002, we generated revenue of $31 million from the sale of lots and land parcels.
Construction and Development
We attempt to match our construction starts to our sales rate. We control our construction starts by constructing and selling homes in phases. Generally, we will not start construction of a phase of homes until sales of homes to be built in the phase have met predetermined targets. The size of these phases depends upon factors such as current sales and cancellation rates, the type of buyer targeted for a particular project, the time of year and our assessment of prevailing and anticipated economic conditions. We generally do not begin selling homes until a significant portion of the homes construction costs are established through firm subcontractor bids.
We attempt to limit the number of unsold units under construction by limiting the size of each construction phase and closely monitoring sales activity. Building homes of a similar product type in phases also allows us to utilize production techniques that reduce our construction costs. The number of our unsold homes fluctuates depending upon the timing of completion of construction and absorption of home phases. As of December 31, 2002, we had 21 completed and unsold homes, excluding the 61 model homes we currently maintain.
We function as a general contractor, subcontracting the construction activities for our projects. We manage these activities with on-site supervisory employees and informational and management control systems. We engage independent architectural, design, engineering and other consulting firms to assist in project planning. We do not have long-term contractual commitments with our subcontractors, consultants or suppliers of materials, who are generally selected on a competitive bid basis. We employ subcontractors for site improvements and for virtually all of the work involved in the construction of homes. In almost all instances, our subcontractors commit to complete the specified work in accordance with written price schedules. These price schedules normally change to meet fluctuations in labor and material costs. We do not own heavy construction equipment and we have a relatively small labor force used to supervise development and construction, and perform routine maintenance and minor amounts of other work. We have generally been able to obtain sufficient materials and subcontractors, even during times of market shortages. We generally complete building a home in four to six months, depending upon the availability of raw materials and supplies, governmental approvals, local labor situation, time of year, design and other factors.
Sales and Marketing
We advertise in local newspapers and magazines and on billboards to assist us in selling our homes. We also utilize direct mailings, special promotional events, illustrated brochures and model homes in our marketing program. The internet has also become an important source of information for our customers. Through the internet, potential buyers are able to search for their home, take a virtual video tour of selected homes, obtain general information about our projects and communicate directly with our personnel.
We sell our homes through our own sales representatives and through independent real estate brokers. Our in-house sales force typically works from sales offices located in model homes close to or in each community. Sales representatives assist potential buyers by providing them with basic floor plans, price information, development and construction timetables, tours of model homes and the selection of options. Sales personnel are licensed by the applicable real estate bodies in their respective markets, are trained by us and generally have had prior experience selling new homes in the local market. Our personnel, along with subcontracted marketing and design consultants, carefully design exteriors and interiors of each home to coincide with the lifestyles of targeted buyers. We use various floor plan types and elevations to provide a more varied street scene and a sense of customization for the buyers.
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As of December 31, 2002, we owned 61 model homes, which are not generally available for sale until the end of a project. Generally, two to four different model homes are built and decorated at each project to display design features. Model homes play a key role in helping buyers understand the efficiencies and value provided by each floor plan type.
In addition to model homes, customers can gain an understanding of the various design features and options available to them using our design centers. At each design center, customers can meet with a designer and are shown the standard and upgraded selections available to them, including professional interior design furnishings and accessories.
We typically sell homes during construction using sales contracts that include cash deposits by the purchasers. Before entering into sales contracts, we generally pre-qualify our customers. However, purchasers can generally cancel sales contracts if they are unable to sell their existing homes, if they fail to qualify for financing, or under certain other circumstances. Although cancellations can delay the sale of our homes, they have not in the past had a material impact on our operating results because we closely monitor the progress of prospective buyers in obtaining financing. We also monitor and adjust our construction start plans to match the level of demand for our homes.
Customer Service and Quality Control
We pay particular attention to the product design process and carefully consider quality and choice of materials in order to attempt to eliminate building deficiencies. The quality and workmanship of the trade contractors we employ is monitored and we make regular inspections to ensure our standards are met.
We staff each business unit with quality control and customer service staff whose role is to provide a positive experience for each customer throughout the pre-sale, sale, building, closing and post-closing periods. These employees are also responsible for providing after-sales customer service to help ensure customers are satisfied with their purchase. Our quality and service initiatives include taking customers on a comprehensive tour of their home prior to closing and using customer survey results to improve our standards of quality and customer satisfaction.
Mortgage Brokerage Operations
We offer mortgage brokerage services exclusively to our customers in our San Francisco Bay Area, Southland/Los Angeles and Northern Virginia markets. We have agreements with various lenders to receive a fee on loans made by the lenders to customers we introduce to the lenders. We do not originate, fund or service the loans, nor do we assume any credit or interest rate risk in connection with the loans. For the year ended December 31, 2002, less than 1% of our revenue and less than 5% of our net income was derived from our mortgage operations.
Relationship with Affiliates
We are a residential homebuilder and land developer, building homes and developing land primarily in three markets in California and Northern Virginia. None of our affiliates, including Brascan and Brookfield Properties, operate in similar businesses in our markets. Nevertheless, there are several agreements among our affiliates to which we are a party or subject. For a description of these agreements refer to Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions which is incorporated by reference in this report from our definitive 2003 proxy statement, which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than April 30, 2003.
Several of our directors serve as executive officers and directors of our affiliates. For a description of those relationships refer to Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions which is incorporated by reference in this report from our definitive 2003 proxy statement which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than April 30, 2003.
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Competition
The residential homebuilding industry is highly competitive. We compete against numerous homebuilders and others in the real estate business in and near the areas where our communities are located. Our principal competitors are primarily national public company homebuilders, including Centex Corporation, Lennar Corporation, Pulte Corporation, Standard Pacific Corp. and Toll Brothers, Inc. We may compete for investment opportunities, financing, available land, raw materials and skilled labor with entities that possess greater financial, marketing and other resources than us. Competition may increase the bargaining power of property owners seeking to sell and industry competition may increase if there is future consolidation in the real estate development industry.
Material Contracts
Other than contracts arising in connection with the reorganization and the Spin-off of the residential homebuilding operations of Brookfield Properties, we are not party or subject to any material contracts. For a description of the material contracts arising in connection with the reorganization, refer to Certain Relationships and Related Party Transactions which is incorporated by reference in this report from our definitive 2003 proxy statement which will be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission not later than April 30, 2003.
Regulation and Environment
We are subject to local and state laws and regulations concerning zoning, design, construction and similar matters, including local regulations which impose restrictive zoning and density requirements in order to limit the number of homes that eventually can be built within the boundaries of a particular area. We are also subject to periodic delays in our homebuilding projects due to building moratoria. In addition, new development projects may be subject to various assessments for schools, parks, streets and highways and other public improvements, the costs of which can be substantial. When made, these assessments can have a negative impact on our sales by raising the price that homebuyers must pay for our homes.
We are also subject to local, state and federal laws and regulations concerning the protection of the environment. The environmental laws that apply to a given homebuilding site depend upon the sites location, its environmental conditions and the present and former uses of the site and its adjoining properties. Environmental laws and conditions may result in delays, or cause us to incur substantial compliance and other costs, and can prohibit or severely restrict homebuilding activity in environmentally sensitive regions or areas.
We do not currently have any material estimated capital expenditures related to governmental assessments or environmental compliance costs for the remainder of fiscal 2003, fiscal 2004 or fiscal 2005.
In connection with our operations, some of our employees have general contractor and real estate sales licenses, which are subject to governmental regulations. Our employees holding those licenses are currently in material compliance with all applicable regulations.
Seasonality
We have historically experienced variability in our results of operations from quarter to quarter due to the seasonal nature of the homebuilding business and the timing of new community openings and the closing out of projects. We typically experience the highest rate of orders for new homes in the first six months of the calendar year, although the rate of orders for new homes is highly dependent upon the number of active communities. Because new home deliveries trail orders for new homes by several months, we typically deliver a greater percentage of new homes in the second half of the year compared with the first half of the year. As a result, our revenues from sales of homes are generally higher in the second half of the year.
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Employees
As of December 31, 2002, we had 549 employees. We consider our relations with our employees to be good. Our construction operations are conducted primarily through independent subcontractors, which limits the number of our employees. None of our employees are represented by a union or covered by a collective bargaining agreement. We have not recently experienced any work stoppages.
Item 2. Properties
In addition to real estate held for development and sale, which we either own or hold under an option to purchase, we lease and maintain executive offices in Del Mar, California. Our Del Mar lease expires in 2004, but we may, at our option, extend the lease for an additional five years.
We also maintain an administrative office in Toronto, Ontario. In addition, we have other offices located in the markets in which we conduct business, generally in our communities or in leased space. None of these other offices is material to our business. We believe that our office space is suitable and adequate for our needs for the foreseeable future.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
We are party to various legal actions arising in the ordinary course of our business. We believe that none of these actions, either individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition or results of operations.
Item 4. Submission of Matters to a Vote of Security Holders
None.
10
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrants Common Equity and Related Stockholder Matters
Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol BHS, and began regular trading on January 7, 2003. As of March 10, 2003, there were approximately 1,154 holders of record of our common stock. For the period commencing January 7, 2003 and ending March 10, 2003 the high and low sales price for our common stock was $11.90 and $9.22, respectively.
As part of the completion of the Spin-off, we paid a total cash dividend of approximately $17 million to our stockholders of record on December 30, 2002. In addition, at our February 13, 2003 board of directors meeting, a cash dividend of $0.08 per share was declared payable June 30, 2003 to stockholders of record on June 16, 2003. Our board of directors periodically reviews our dividend policy. Future dividends on our common stock, if any, will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon, among other things, our results of operations, cash requirements and surplus, financial condition, contractual restrictions, investment opportunities and other factors that our board of directors consider relevant.
There are no current or anticipated contractual terms in our credit or other arrangements that restrict our ability to pay dividends, other than the requirements imposed by our project specific financings and our credit facility that requires we maintain a tangible net worth of at least $250 million, and the additional requirements of our project specific financings that we maintain a debt to tangible net worth ratio of 1.5 to 1 and a debt to capitalization ratio of no greater than 60%. Refer to Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations Contractual Obligations and Other Commitments for additional information about these and other restrictions.
Recent Sales of Unregistered Securities
In connection with the Spin-off, we issued a total of 31,600,100 shares of our common stock to Brookfield Homes (Delaware) Inc., Brookfield Washington Inc. and Brookfield Homes of California Inc., each of which is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Brookfield Properties, and 473,680 shares directly to Brookfield Properties.
In each of the above transactions, we relied upon the exemption from registration provided by Section 4(2) of the Securities Act of 1933. In each case, the relevant securities were issued to one or two accredited investors known by us to possess sufficient financial knowledge and experience to make an informed investment decision.
Item 6. Selected Financial Data
The following tables include selected historical consolidated financial data for each year in the five year period ended December 31, 2002.
The historical financial data for all periods presented relates to our business as it was operated by Brookfield Properties prior to the Spin-off, and therefore some of our expenses are based upon allocations made by Brookfield Properties. For example, allocations have been made with respect to personnel, space, estimates of time spent to provide services and other appropriate costs. We believe the allocations were made on a reasonable basis and that no material change to our costs would be expected had our business been operated as a stand-alone entity.
This selected financial data should be read along with Managements Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations and our audited historical consolidated financial statements and the related notes included elsewhere in this report. Our consolidated financial statements were prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP, which differs from Canadian GAAP. For a discussion of the principal differences between U.S. GAAP and Canadian GAAP applicable to our consolidated financial statements and a reconciliation of our earnings to those under Canadian GAAP, refer to Note 10 of our consolidated financial statements.
11
United States GAAP
Our income statement data, balance sheet data and supplementary financial data prepared in accordance with U.S. GAAP and our operating data are as follows:
| Years Ended December 31 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Income Statement Data | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ millions, except per share amounts) | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | |||||||||||||||
Housing revenue |
$ | 785 | $ | 729 | $ | 590 | $ | 538 | $ | 425 | ||||||||||
Total revenue |
842 | 799 | 670 | 559 | 445 | |||||||||||||||
Gross margin(1) |
177 | 166 | 125 | 111 | 93 | |||||||||||||||
Operating income(2) |
81 | 72 | 52 | 45 | 26 | |||||||||||||||
Net income |
43 | 40 | 29 | 27 | 16 | |||||||||||||||
Earnings per share(3) |
1.35 | 1.23 | 0.99 | 1.01 | 0.60 | |||||||||||||||
| At December 31 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Balance Sheet Data | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ millions) | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | |||||||||||||||
Housing and land inventory |
$ | 616 | $ | 633 | $ | 547 | $ | 591 | $ | 592 | ||||||||||
Total assets |
844 | 851 | 762 | 755 | 752 | |||||||||||||||
Debt |
386 | 499 | 472 | 419 | 399 | |||||||||||||||
Total liabilities |
523 | 564 | 551 | 482 | 444 | |||||||||||||||
Total stockholders equity |
321 | 287 | 211 | 273 | 308 | |||||||||||||||
| Years Ended December 31 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Supplemental Financial Data | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ million) | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | |||||||||||||||
Cash provided by/(used in): |
||||||||||||||||||||
Operating activities |
$ | 140 | $ | (32 | ) | $ | 99 | $ | 58 | $ | (43 | ) | ||||||||
Investment activities |
24 | | (51 | ) | (18 | ) | 6 | |||||||||||||
Financing activities |
(128 | ) | 25 | (42 | ) | (41 | ) | 40 | ||||||||||||
EBIT(4) |
116 | 110 | 80 | 69 | 54 | |||||||||||||||
Net debt to total capitalization(5) |
50% | 62% | 68% | 61% | 56% | |||||||||||||||
| Years Ended December 31 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Operating Data | ||||||||||||||||||||
| (Unaudited) | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | 1998 | |||||||||||||||
Home closings (units) |
1,554 | 1,645 | 1,467 | 1,523 | 1,593 | |||||||||||||||
Net new orders (units)(6) |
1,580 | 1,531 | 1,581 | 1,582 | 1,511 | |||||||||||||||
Backlog (units at end of period)(7) |
467 | 441 | 555 | 441 | 382 | |||||||||||||||
Average selling price |
$ | 505,000 | $ | 443,000 | $ | 402,000 | $ | 353,000 | $ | 267,000 | ||||||||||
(footnotes appear on following pages)
12
Canadian GAAP
Our income statement data, balance sheet data and supplementary financial data prepared in accordance with Canadian GAAP are as follows:
| Years Ended December 31 | ||||||||||||||||||||
| Income Statement Data | ||||||||||||||||||||
| ($ millions, except per share amounts) | 2002 | 2001 | 2000 | 1999 | ||||||||||||||||