Toll Brothers Swings to Loss

Luxury homebuilder Toll Brothers Inc. says it swung to a loss in the first quarter as declining sales and more than $245 million in write-downs hurt results.
Chairman and Chief Executive Robert I. Toll said the company has seen few ''glimmers of hope.''
The Horsham, Pa.-based company said Wednesday it lost $96 million, or 61 cents per share, compared with profit of $54.3 million, or 33 cents per share, a year earlier.
Wall Street analysts expected a loss of 50 cents per share, according to a Thomson Financial poll.
Sales fell 23 percent to $842.9 million from $1.09 billion in the same period last year. Analysts expected sales of $818.2 million.
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