Meritage Homes posts 1st profit in 3 years

Meritage Homes Corp., the only publicly traded homebuilder based in Arizona, reported its first pre-tax quarterly profit in three years, helped in large part by a $2.8 million gain from early repayment of debts and a $2.4 million legal settlement in the company's favor. Scottsdale-based Meritage, which trades on the NASDAQ stock exchange under the symbol "MTH," reported a $3.3 million pre-tax profit for its fiscal first quarter, ending March 31, compared with a quarterly loss of $7.8 million a year earlier. After taxes, the company's profit was $2.7 million, compared with an $18 million loss in the first quarter of 2009. A Meritage earnings report released Wednesday stressed that the company's first profitable quarter since before the housing-market crash began was a result of real performance improvement, and not just the legal and debt-repayment windfalls.

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