The Bonita Springs-based developer of luxury single-family and multifamily communities cited two reasons for the revised forecast: a decrease in sales traffic following the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on America and a temporary delay in the construction start at the Belize at Marco Island, a multifamily tower project in the Southwest Florida community.
"While we indicated on our last conference call that we might exceed this 10% to 15% growth, the events of September 11th and a recent delay of the construction start of one of our towers make this extraordinary growth unlikely," Jim Dietz, WCI senior vice president and chief financial officer, says in a prepared statement.
It also doesn't look as though the company intends anytime soon to price a pending $144 million initial public stock offering, which WCI filed just five days before the Sept. 11 national tragedy. Company officials say they will wait until the market is right.
"WCI is in sound financial condition and there is no particular urgency for us to access the equity markets," says Jerry Starkey, WCI president. "We will be looking for stability in the overall markets and an increase in homebuilder valuations. WCI has taken important steps to insure that its long-term business activities are not affected by the current uncertainty in the economy."
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