Note 17 - Operating and Reporting Segments

3 Months Ended

Jan. 31, 2016

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Segment Reporting Disclosure [Text Block]

17. Operating and Reporting Segments

Our operating segments are components of our business for which discrete financial information is available and reviewed regularly by the chief operating decision maker, our Chief Executive Officer, to evaluate performance and make operating decisions. Based on this criteria, each of our communities qualifies as an operating segment, and therefore, it is impractical to provide segment disclosures for this many segments. As such, we have aggregated the homebuilding operating segments into six reportable segments.

Our homebuilding operating segments are aggregated into reportable segments based primarily upon geographic proximity, similar regulatory environments, land acquisition characteristics and similar methods used to construct and sell homes. Our reportable segments consist of the following six homebuilding segments and a financial services segment:

Homebuilding:

(1) Northeast (New Jersey and Pennsylvania)

(2) Mid-Atlantic (Delaware, Maryland, Virginia, Washington D.C. and West Virginia)

(3) Midwest (Illinois, Minnesota and Ohio)

(4) Southeast (Florida, Georgia, North Carolina and South Carolina)

(5) Southwest (Arizona and Texas)

(6) West (California)

Financial Services

Operations of the Company’s Homebuilding segments primarily include the sale and construction of single-family attached and detached homes, attached townhomes and condominiums, urban infill and active adult homes in planned residential developments. In addition, from time to time, operations of the homebuilding segments include sales of land. Operations of the Company’s Financial Services segment include mortgage banking and title services provided to the homebuilding operations’ customers. We do not typically retain or service mortgages that we originate but rather sell the mortgages and related servicing rights to investors.

Corporate and unallocated primarily represents operations at our headquarters in Red Bank, New Jersey. This includes our executive offices, information services, human resources, corporate accounting, training, treasury, process redesign, internal audit, construction services, and administration of insurance, quality and safety. It also includes interest income and interest expense resulting from interest incurred that cannot be capitalized in inventory in the Homebuilding segments, as well as the gains or losses on extinguishment of debt from any debt repurchases or exchanges.

Evaluation of segment performance is based primarily on operating earnings from continuing operations before provision for income taxes (“Income (loss) before income taxes”). Income (loss) before income taxes for the Homebuilding segments consist of revenues generated from the sales of homes and land, income (loss) from unconsolidated entities, management fees and other income, less the cost of homes and land sold, selling, general and administrative expenses and interest expense. Income before income taxes for the Financial Services segment consist of revenues generated from mortgage financing, title insurance and closing services, less the cost of such services and selling, general and administrative expenses incurred by the Financial Services segment.

Operational results of each segment are not necessarily indicative of the results that would have occurred had the segment been an independent stand-alone entity during the periods presented.

Financial information relating to the Company’s segment operations was as follows:

	Three Months Ended January 31,
(In thousands)	2016		2015
Revenues:
Northeast	$72,504		$50,730
Mid-Atlantic	93,820		81,185
Midwest	91,920		64,439
Southeast	39,252		37,894
Southwest	204,325		167,187
West	55,578		33,193
Total homebuilding	557,399		434,628
Financial services	18,226		11,122
Corporate and unallocated	(20	)	(36	)
Total revenues	$575,605		$445,714
(Loss) income before income taxes:
Northeast	$2,734		$(3,153	)
Mid-Atlantic	2,622		5,177
Midwest	(5,559	)	3,711
Southeast	(1,834	)	(1,156	)
Southwest	16,369		11,325
West	(5,968	)	(2,373	)
Homebuilding income before income taxes	8,364		13,531
Financial services	10,011		3,805
Corporate and unallocated	(31,569	)	(37,016	)
Loss before income taxes	$(13,194	)	$(19,680	)

(In thousands)	January 31, 2016	October 31, 2015
Assets:
Northeast	$288,384	$321,983
Mid-Atlantic	345,217	342,159
Midwest	176,399	197,899
Southeast	255,971	223,206
Southwest	469,940	465,740
West	286,351	259,943
Total homebuilding	1,822,262	1,810,930
Financial services	193,458	159,981
Corporate and unallocated (1)	537,020	631,387
Total assets	$2,552,740	$2,602,298

(1)  Includes $287.4 million and $290.3 million of income taxes receivable – including deferred tax assets as of January 31, 2016 and October 31, 2015, respectively.