Post by unlawflcombatnt on Aug 13, 2007 4:13:58 GMT -6
Beazer Homes shares drop amid FBI probe
The Associated Press
3/28/07
"ATLANTA - Shares of Beazer Homes USA Inc. fell more than 8 percent Wednesday after the FBI said it is among agencies investigating possible fraud in the company’s mortgage lending practices and other financial transactions. The homebuilder said it was cooperating with a federal prosecutor’s request for documents.
The Atlanta-based company, which has suffered hefty losses amid a downturn in the housing market, is the subject of an investigation by the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office in Charlotte, N.C., along with the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FBI agent Ken Lucas said Tuesday.
In a statement Wednesday morning, Beazer said it has been in contact with the U.S. attorney’s office and it was cooperating with a request for unspecified documents. It said there have been no allegations of wrongdoing....
Lucas, a spokesman for the FBI’s Charlotte field office, said the inquiry began last week and involves “fraud in general” and more specifically is related to corporate, mortgage and investment issues....
Beazer lost $59 million, or $1.54 per share, in its first quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with a profit of $89.9 million, or $2 per share, a year ago. Revenue slid to $806.4 million from $1.1 billion in the year-ago period....
Beazer is a major single-family homebuilder with operations in 21 states across the country. It also provides mortgage origination and title services to its homebuyers."
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Beazer Homes stock takes a nosedive
By JULIE B. HAIRSTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
08/01/07
"Analysts said Beazer's recent legal troubles have made the company like the canary in a coal mine, acutely sensitive to market forces that are threatening all of the companies in its homebuilding market sector....
After rising steadily for the past six years to a peak over $80 per share in 2006, Beazer stock took only 18 months to fall to $8.40 per share at one point in Wednesday's trading. The company stock finished the day at $11.48.
With investigations by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte, N.C., and the federal Securities and Exchange Commission ongoing, news of a second consecutive quarter of losses last week appear to have triggered Wall Street rumors that Beazer was preparing to file for bankruptcy.
The U.S. attorney's probe arose from reports of unusually high foreclosure rates in Beazer communities around Charlotte and allegations that Beazer's mortgage arm falsified loan applications for unqualified buyers who later defaulted on their payments....
Slumping sales and revenues and the abandonment of land options contributed to Beazer's $123 million loss in the three months ending June 30, its second consecutive quarter of losses in 2007...."
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Beazer Audit Committee finds incorrect accounting
8/10/07
"Aug 10 (Reuters) - Beazer Homes USA on Friday said its former chief accounting officer may have caused reserves and other accrued liabilities to have been recorded in prior accounting periods in excess of amounts appropriate under generally accepted accounting principles...."
(Reporting by Ilaina Jonas)
The Associated Press
3/28/07
"ATLANTA - Shares of Beazer Homes USA Inc. fell more than 8 percent Wednesday after the FBI said it is among agencies investigating possible fraud in the company’s mortgage lending practices and other financial transactions. The homebuilder said it was cooperating with a federal prosecutor’s request for documents.
The Atlanta-based company, which has suffered hefty losses amid a downturn in the housing market, is the subject of an investigation by the FBI and the U.S. attorney’s office in Charlotte, N.C., along with the Internal Revenue Service and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, FBI agent Ken Lucas said Tuesday.
In a statement Wednesday morning, Beazer said it has been in contact with the U.S. attorney’s office and it was cooperating with a request for unspecified documents. It said there have been no allegations of wrongdoing....
Lucas, a spokesman for the FBI’s Charlotte field office, said the inquiry began last week and involves “fraud in general” and more specifically is related to corporate, mortgage and investment issues....
Beazer lost $59 million, or $1.54 per share, in its first quarter ended Dec. 31 compared with a profit of $89.9 million, or $2 per share, a year ago. Revenue slid to $806.4 million from $1.1 billion in the year-ago period....
Beazer is a major single-family homebuilder with operations in 21 states across the country. It also provides mortgage origination and title services to its homebuyers."
____________________
Beazer Homes stock takes a nosedive
By JULIE B. HAIRSTON
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
08/01/07
"Analysts said Beazer's recent legal troubles have made the company like the canary in a coal mine, acutely sensitive to market forces that are threatening all of the companies in its homebuilding market sector....
After rising steadily for the past six years to a peak over $80 per share in 2006, Beazer stock took only 18 months to fall to $8.40 per share at one point in Wednesday's trading. The company stock finished the day at $11.48.
With investigations by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Charlotte, N.C., and the federal Securities and Exchange Commission ongoing, news of a second consecutive quarter of losses last week appear to have triggered Wall Street rumors that Beazer was preparing to file for bankruptcy.
The U.S. attorney's probe arose from reports of unusually high foreclosure rates in Beazer communities around Charlotte and allegations that Beazer's mortgage arm falsified loan applications for unqualified buyers who later defaulted on their payments....
Slumping sales and revenues and the abandonment of land options contributed to Beazer's $123 million loss in the three months ending June 30, its second consecutive quarter of losses in 2007...."
____________________
Beazer Audit Committee finds incorrect accounting
8/10/07
"Aug 10 (Reuters) - Beazer Homes USA on Friday said its former chief accounting officer may have caused reserves and other accrued liabilities to have been recorded in prior accounting periods in excess of amounts appropriate under generally accepted accounting principles...."
(Reporting by Ilaina Jonas)