ABJ - September 19 - Lennar Corporation, one of America's largest homebuilders, reported results for its third quarter ending August 31. Third quarter net earnings attributable to Lennar in 2011 were $20.7 million, or 11 cents a diluted share, compared to third quarter net earnings of $30 million, or 16 cents a diluted share, in 2010.

Stuart Miller, CEO of Lennar Corporation, said, "We are pleased to report EPS of 11 cents for our third fiscal quarter of 2011, making this our sixth consecutive quarter of profitability. We generated profits in all of our business segments, despite operating in very challenging economic conditions."

Miller continued, "On an encouraging note, we have seen demand for home purchases slowly return to the marketplace, driven by low home prices and all-time low interest rates. Limiting that demand is tight and tightening lending standards, high unemployment and low overall consumer confidence, which continue to weigh heavily on the purchase of new homes.

"During the quarter, we continued to focus on our homebuilding business. We benefitted greatly from our strategic capital investments in new high margin communities, which contributed to our gross margin of 21.1 per cent. Our intense focus on efficient business practice through our Everything's Included program, product re-engineering and SG&A reduction all contributed to a profitable quarter. "