D.R. Horton Inc.

D.R. Horton Inc. The homebuilder's chief executive said Tuesday he expects this fiscal year to be even more challenging than 2008, which ended with a nearly $800 million quarterly loss on slower home sales and more than $1 billion in charges.

The Fort Worth, Texas-based company reported a net loss of $799.9 million, or $2.53 a share, compared with a loss of $50.1 million or 16 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Total sales for the quarter were $1.75 billion, down from $3.12 billion in the fourth quarter 2007.

D.R. Horton sold 6,961 homes in the fourth quarter, down 41 percent from year-ago levels.

Donald Tomnitz, who is also D.R. Horton's president, said the company was working to reduce inventory of homes and land.

He called the housing market "dismal" but said, "we are confident in our abilities to deal with the blows the housing market and the economy will send our way."

The builder's fourth quarter revenue plummeted 44 percent, but that still beat analysts' expectations. Analysts polled by Thomson First Call had forecast a loss of $1.88 a share on revenue of $1.7 billion.

D.R. Horton said the fourth-quarter loss reflected a tax benefit of $365.3 million.

The company took nearly $1 billion in charges in the fourth quarter, including $364.7 million for owned inventory, $624.2 million for land and lots sold during the quarter and $85.7 million for write-offs of deposits and costs tied to land contracts the company doesn't plan to pursue.

At the end of the quarter D.R. Horton had 5,297 homes worth $1.2 billion under contract to be sold. It had 10,442 homes valued at $2.7 billion under contract on the same day last year.