Fitch Revises Beazer's Outlook to Negative

Fitch Ratings has affirmed its ratings on Beazer Homes USA but changed the Atlanta-based homebuilder's rating outlook from Stable to Negative.The rating agency said the outlook "reflects the more challenging outlook for homebuilders, the current and expected near-term deterioration in credit metrics for Beazer, and pressures from credit tightening, which particularly affect entry-level buyers (a significant customer focus at Beazer), and high cancellation rates, which add to speculative inventory totals." Fitch also noted the recent departure of James O'Leary as Beazer's chief financial officer to take a chief executive post elsewhere, which it said "depletes senior management ranks at an inopportune time." Fitch can be found online at http://www.fitchratings.com, and Beazer can be found at http://www.beazer.com.