M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. ( www.RichmondAmerican.com ), whose subsidiaries build homes under the name "Richmond American Homes," today announced that Moody's Investors Service ("Moody's") has upgraded the Company's senior implied rating, issuer rating, and senior unsecured debt rating to "Baa3" from "Ba1." In its announcement of the ratings action, Moody's stated, "The upgrades reflect the company's success in diversifying its profit base away from Colorado, its consistent generation of some of the strongest financial ratios within the homebuilding industry, its conservative accounting and cautious land position, the strong, largely organic growth rate, the growing equity base, and significant management ownership." Moody's continued, "Among its peer group, MDC generated over the three-year period 2000-2002 the highest EBIT and EBITDA margins, the strongest interest coverage, and the best returns (ROA and ROE) despite carrying the lowest debt leverage...."
Larry A. Mizel, MDC's chairman and chief executive officer, said, "We are pleased that Moody's has recognized the success of our strategy and the strength of our operating performance. We are especially appreciative of the efforts of the people who have worked for and with our Company to produce the results that have enabled us to achieve this important milestone."
MDC, whose subsidiaries build homes under the name "Richmond American Homes," is one of the largest homebuilders in the United States. The Company also provides mortgage financing, primarily for MDC's homebuyers, through its wholly owned subsidiary, HomeAmerican Mortgage Corporation. MDC is a major regional homebuilder with a significant presence in some of the country's best housing markets. The Company is the largest homebuilder in Colorado; among the top five homebuilders in Northern Virginia, Phoenix, Tucson and Las Vegas; among the top ten homebuilders in suburban Maryland, Northern California and Southern California; and has recently entered the Salt Lake City and Dallas/Fort Worth markets.
SOURCE: M.D.C. Holdings, Inc.
CONTACT: Paris G. Reece III, Chief Financial Officer of M.D.C. Holdings,
Inc., +1-303-804-7706, greece@mdch.com ; or Robert Solomon of Rubenstein
Associates, Inc., +1-212-843-8050, rsolomon@rubenstein.com , for M.D.C.
Holdings, Inc.
The Richmond American Homes companies (RAH), HomeAmerican Mortgage Corporation (HMC), American Home Insurance
Agency (also known as AHI Insurance Agency) (AHI) and American Home Title and Escrow Company (AHT) are
owned, directly or indirectly, by M.D.C. Holdings, Inc. and, therefore, are affiliated companies. Each of
RAH, HMC, AHI and AHT offers services independently of each other, and if you obtain a product or service
from one company, you are not required to utilize the services of, or obtain products from, the other
company. Your decision to use a company that is not affiliated with RAH, HMC, AHI or AHT will not affect
your ability to obtain products and services from these companies. See licensing information.
Certain statements on the Site, including statements regarding the MDC Companies' business, financial condition,
results of operation, cash flows, strategies and prospects, constitute "forward-looking statements" within the
meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These forward-looking statements may be
identified by terminology such as "likely," "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates,"
"believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or "continue," or the negative of such terms and other
comparable terminology. Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other
factors that may cause the actual results, performance or achievements of the MDC Companies to be materially
different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking
statements. Additional information about the risks and uncertainties applicable to the MDC Companies' business
is contained in MDC's filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including MDC's Annual Reports on
Form 10-K and Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q. The MDC Companies undertake no duty to update publicly any
forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. However, any
further disclosures made on related subjects in MDC's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange
Commission, press releases and/or presentations should be considered.
