Realogy Corporation, a global provider of real estate and relocation services, today reported results for the first quarter 2008. Specifically, first quarter 2008 net revenue totaled $1.05 billion; EBITDA was $4 million, modestly above the Company’s earlier guidance; and net loss was $132 million, due mainly to interest expense of $164 million.10-Q @ sec.gov.“The first quarter of any year is historically our slowest from an earnings perspective almost entirely due to the seasonality of the residential real estate market,” said Richard A. Smith, Realogy’s president and CEO. “We still have most of our annual EBITDA opportunity in front of us and, of course, that’s where our focus lies.”
Smith continued, “Realogy’s first quarter 2008 operating results reflected the continued industry-wide slowdown in U.S. existing home sales but were partially offset by management’s focus on overhead, productivity and growth. In April, we saw some early indications that the improving year-over-year unit change trends being forecasted by the National Association of Realtors and Fannie Mae in the back half of 2008 may be starting to develop. While we expect to see some mixed results in the coming months, we are encouraged by these positive signs of activity in April.”