Note 17 - Operating and Reporting Segments

9 Months Ended

Jul. 31, 2015

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 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, interest expense and non-controlling 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 certain 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 July 31,						Nine Months Ended July 31,
(In thousands)	2015			2014			2015			2014
Revenues:
Northeast		$36,209			$60,531			$126,213			$179,529
Mid-Atlantic		113,992			90,123			271,954			219,378
Midwest		82,325			55,423			220,020			147,884
Southeast		57,329			55,449			144,498			146,613
Southwest		203,249			201,906			560,863			495,116
West		33,180			76,521			93,895			147,979
Total homebuilding		526,284			539,953			1,417,443			1,336,499
Financial services		14,360			11,106			37,939			28,612
Corporate and unallocated		(31	)		(50	)		(106	)		(125	)
Total revenues		$540,613			$551,009			$1,455,276			$1,364,986
(Loss) income before income taxes:
Northeast		$(4,008	)		$(1,971	)		$(10,973	)		$(10,791	)
Mid-Atlantic		5,440			5,397			10,439			9,772
Midwest		3,120			4,971			8,041			10,687
Southeast		(1,225	)		2,244			(3,583	)		6,990
Southwest		17,170			22,178			42,517			48,259
West		(3,973	)		11,091			(15,309	)		12,829
Homebuilding income before income taxes		16,524			43,910			31,132			77,746
Financial services		6,116			3,894			14,870			8,021
Corporate and unallocated		(32,641	)		(32,432	)		(105,164	)		(101,583	)
(Loss) income before income taxes		$(10,001	)		$15,372			$(59,162	)		$(15,816	)

(In thousands)	July 31, 2015		October 31, 2014
Assets:
Northeast		$329,387		$315,573
Mid-Atlantic		340,564		313,494
Midwest		190,461		169,967
Southeast		207,490		148,096
Southwest		473,732		410,756
West		245,266		143,245
Total homebuilding		1,786,900		1,501,131
Financial services		136,090		120,343
Corporate and unallocated		626,354		668,456
Total assets		$2,549,344		$2,289,930