PulteGroup, Inc. announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2018. For the quarter, the Company reported an 87% increase in net income to $171 million, and a 111% gain in earnings to $0.59 per share. The Company’s prior year net income was $92 million, or $0.28 per share, inclusive of $0.03 per share of expense associated with the resolution of certain insurance matters.

“PulteGroup has gotten off to an exceptional start in 2018, as we realized 21% top line growth while effectively doubling reported earnings per share,” said Ryan Marshall, President and CEO of PulteGroup. “By continuing to invest organically within our established markets, we have put ourselves in position to grow our business while continuing to generate high returns.”

“Robust buyer demand in the face of mortgage and financial market volatility attests to the strong underpinnings of this housing recovery which is being bolstered by sustained economic growth, good job trends, favorable demographics and a limited supply of homes for sale,” said Marshall. “Within this environment, we believe that our diversified operating platform, balanced customer base, and supportive land pipeline puts the Company in a strong competitive position to achieve its long-term financial goals.”

Home sale revenues for the first quarter totaled $1.9 billion, an increase of 21% over the prior year. Higher revenues for the quarter were driven by a 10% increase in average selling price to $413,000, in combination with a 9% increase in closings to 4,626 homes.

Home sale gross profits for the quarter were $452 million, or 23.6% of home sale revenues, compared with $368 million, or 23.2% of home sale revenues, in the prior year. SG&A expense for the first quarter was $241 million, or 12.6% of home sale revenues. SG&A expense for the prior year was $236 million, or 14.9% of home sale revenues, inclusive of $15 million of expenses associated with the resolution of certain insurance matters. Operating margin for the period was 11.0%, an increase of 270 basis over prior year reported operating margin of 8.3%.

For the quarter, net new orders increased 12% over the prior year to 6,875 homes, as the dollar value of net new orders increased 18% to $2.9 billion. During the first quarter, the Company operated out of 844 communities, which was up 8% over 2017.

The Company ended the quarter with a backlog of 11,245 homes valued at $5.0 billion, which are increases of 21% and 30%, respectively, over last year, and represent decade highs for the period. The average sales price in backlog increased 8% over last year to $441,000, as price benefitted from the product and geographic mix of homes, as well as higher selling prices realized within each buyer group.

PulteGroup’s financial services operations generated pretax income of $14 million, which is unchanged from last year, as the benefit of higher production volumes was offset by more competitive market conditions that impacted pricing and capture rate. Mortgage capture rate for the first quarter was 78% compared with 80% in the first quarter of 2017.

The Company ended the quarter with $185 million of cash. During the quarter, the Company repurchased 1.7 million common shares for $52 million, or an average price of $30.86 per share.