J.M. Peters Cites Write-Downs in $84.5-Million Loss

J.M. Peters Co. Inc.: The Newport Beach home builder reported a loss of $84.5 million, or $6.05 a share, for its latest fiscal year. That compared to a loss of $57.8 million, or $4.13 a share, for the previous 12 months. Revenue for the fiscal year ended Feb. 28 declined 59% to $75.7 million from $184.9 million. Much of the loss came from write-downs of properties that the company had bought at the height of late 1980s real estate boom. The properties’ values were adjusted when they were sold in a complicated transaction last year when the federal Resolution Trust Corp. sold its stake in J.M. Peters. For its fourth fiscal quarter, the company lost $4.9 million, or 36 cents a share, compared to a loss of $51 million, or $3.65 a share, for the same period a year earlier. Three-month revenue was down 80% to $7.6 million from $38.1 million.