Pulte Homes, Inc.: Global Gap Analysis And Labor Productivity Benchmarks Published

ICON Group International Ltd. today released two of the most comprehensive studies to date on vertical gap analysis and labor productivity benchmarks for Pulte Homes, Inc. (NYSE: PHM).

The methodologist for this unique study is Philip Parker, Eli Lilly Chair Professor of Innovation, Business and Society at INSEAD (Fontainebleau, France and Singapore). According to Professor Parker "We created these reports in response to two inescapable trends: a return to fundamentals and globalization." The goal of these reports is to assist consultants, financial managers, strategic planners, and corporate officers in gauging indicators of Pulte Homes, Inc.'s financial and human resource structure.

The Report has benchmarked Pulte Homes, Inc. against competing firms in the General Contractors of Single-Family Houses industry worldwide--going beyond traditional methods of company benchmarking. The results are two specialized reports: (1) global financial benchmarks using common-size statement ratios (vertical analysis), and (2) labor-productivity and utilization measures collected across borders. Parker notes, "With the globalization of markets, greater foreign competition, and the reduction of barriers to entry, it becomes all the more important to benchmark a company's financial indicators on a worldwide basis."

Professor Parker states, "We are intrigued by the wide variations in basic financial and productivity measures between Pulte Homes, Inc. and other General Contractors of Single-Family Housescompanies. The Earnings Before Interest And Taxes (EBIT), for example, varied from -8.04 to 20.69. We see this type of variation in the hundreds of ratios that we estimate."

What? : The Coverage of the Reports

Two reports, financial ratios and labor productivity ratios, are available for Pulte Homes, Inc.. Each report reveals productivity and industry ranks for companies in the General Contractors of Single-Family Housesindustry. Reports for 30 of Pulte Homes, Inc.'s competitors in General Contractors of Single-Family Housesare also available including:

Associated Materials Incorporated, Beazer Homes Plc, Beazer Homes USA, Inc., Bellway p.l.c., Bien-Haus AG, Centex Corporation, Clayton Homes, Inc., Countryside Properties PLC, Crest Nicholson PLC, Crossmann Communities Incorporated, Fairview Holdings Plc, First Cincinnati Inc., Higashi Nihon House Co., Ltd., Kampa-Haus AG, KB Home, M.D.C. Holdings Incorporated, M/I Schottenstein Homes, Inc., Misawa Homes Co., Ltd., Mitsui Home Co., Ltd., Newmark Homes Corp., Pulte Homes, Inc., Southern Energy Homes, Inc., Standard Pacific Corporation, and Toll Brothers Incorporated

The reports answer such questions as: How has Pulte Homes, Inc.'s asset structure varied compared to global benchmarks for the General Contractors of Single-Family Housesindustry? Does it generally hold more cash and other short-term assets, or does it tend to concentrate its assets in physical plant and equipment? On the liability side, does Pulte Homes, Inc. typically have a higher percent of payables compared to the benchmarks, or does it hold a higher concentration of long-term debt? Does Pulte Homes, Inc. have a relatively higher cost of goods sold, operating costs, or income taxes compared to global benchmarks? Have Pulte Homes, Inc.'s returns on equity been higher or its profit margins greater? What has been the ratio of short-term and long-term assets to employee? What are typical capital-labor ratios? What are the average sales and net profits per employee compared to global benchmarks?

How? : The Methodology

Most vertical analyses merely focus on benchmarking against domestic ratios, often published by government agencies or commercial sources. In contrast, the report calculates thousands of industry norms by looking at firms at the global level, pooling statistics on tens of thousands of companies across over 40 countries, and applying a seven-stage methodology: (1) identification of industry classifications, (2) firm-level data collection and aggregation, (3) standardization of raw statistics, (4) filtering outliers, (5) calculation of global norms, (6) projection of deviations and gaps, and (7) projection of ranks and percentiles. For each part of the financial statement, the larger structural differences and gaps between Pulte Homes, Inc. and the global benchmarks are provided with summary tables of ranks and percentiles.

Previously available only through booksellers such as Amazon.com, Barnes and Noble, and Hoovers, two studies are now available direct from the publisher at a 50% discount off the cover price. This special offer includes International Competitive Benchmarks and Financial Gap Analysis and Labor Productivity Benchmarks and International Gap Analysis at US$ 199.90 ($99.95 each). Fax, 858-546-4341 or write iconsubs@san.rr.com, for more information.

About ICON Group Ltd.

ICON Group Ltd. assists managers with global benchmarking, gap analysis, and productivity studies. Clients can create their own benchmarks by choosing their competitors from among over 20,000 companies.