St. Joe Reaffirms Full Year Expectations
Thursday October 4, 4:41 pm Eastern Time
Press Release
SOURCE: The St. Joe Company
St. Joe Reaffirms Full Year Expectations: EBIDTA, Excluding Land Sales, to Exceed 2000 Results by Approximately 30 Percent
-- EBITDA for Third Quarter Estimated to be from $0.46 to $0.48 Per Share Including Conservation Land Sale Gains
JACKSONVILLE, Fla.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Oct. 4, 2001-- -- Third Quarter EBITDA Excluding Conservation Land Sales
Estimated to be from $0.35 to $0.37 Per Share
Commercial Building Sale, Postponed From Third Quarter, Scheduled to Close This Month for EBITDA Gain of $5 million, or $0.06 per share
St. Joe Repurchases More Than One Million Shares in Third Quarter
The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE - news) announced today that it expects its third quarter 2001 EBITDA per share (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) to be approximately $0.46 to $0.48 per share. This includes EBITDA from conservation land sales of $0.11 per share in the third quarter. EBITDA excluding conservation land gains is expected to be between $0.35 and $0.37 per share in the third quarter.
In July the company reported that it expected third quarter 2001 EBITDA, excluding conservation land sale gains, to be approximately equal to the $0.45 per share recorded in the second quarter, depending on the timing of certain large transactions.
One major transaction originally scheduled for September closing, the sale of a large commercial building in Boca Raton, Florida, is now expected to close later this month. This transaction will produce a pretax gain of approximately $5 million for the fourth quarter instead of the third quarter. This 160,000 square foot office building was designed and built exclusively for lease to IBM. Several other smaller closings have slipped to the fourth quarter as well.
St. Joe is pleased to reaffirm guidance provided in July regarding full year 2001 EBITDA. The company remains comfortable with expectations for, ``EBITDA per share, before gains on St. Joe Land and conservation land sales, to increase approximately 30 percent over the results we achieved in 2000.'' In July the company published projections that St. Joe Land EBITDA would be between approximately $38 million and $43 million. Results are still expected to be within that range.
``While we cannot know the full effects the horrific terrorist attacks in New York, Washington, D.C. and Pennsylvania will have on our businesses, we continue to monitor the market closely,'' said Peter S. Rummell, chairman and CEO of St. Joe. ``We are very fortunate that Northwest Florida has traditionally been a drive-in market. We think this will be a major plus, at least in the short term, since we are so much closer to the feeder markets of the Southeast and Midwest.''
``In the last three weeks of the quarter, delays did occur in the closing of a small number of transactions at our residential, commercial and land divisions,'' said Rummell. ``However, most of these closings have already been completed or are expected to close by the end of this month. While we have seen some softening in activity levels at Arvida Realty Services (ARS), we still expect to generate higher results at ARS in both the third and fourth quarters of 2001 compared with the same quarters a year ago.''
``At September 15, 2001, at Arvida communities throughout the State of Florida, we had 82 contracts which were originally scheduled to close by the end of the third quarter,'' said Rummell. ``Of that amount, 72 closed as scheduled while 7 were delayed and are expected to close within 30 days. Three contracts were cancelled. These closing percentages are within normal range. We are particularly pleased with closings at WaterSound, our newest resort community in Walton County. The first 28 home sites at WaterSound were scheduled to close in the last three days of the quarter. All 28 closed on schedule.''
``From September 15 through September 30, 2001 Arvida accepted 24 new sales contracts for homes or home sites in Florida,'' said Rummell. ``These sales are expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2001 or in 2002.''
``We released 19 home sites at WaterSound on Friday, September 29, 2001 at an average price of $277,000,'' said Rummell. ``By Monday morning, October 1, reservations had been accepted on 18 of the 19. There have been additional home site releases at WaterSound and new reservations accepted this week. Closings for these transactions are expected to occur in the first and second quarters of 2002.
During the third quarter of 2001, the company repurchased a total of 1,127,550 shares, including 590,400 shares purchased from public shareholders and 537,150 shares from the Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust (the ``Trust''), the majority stockholder of the company, and the Trust's primary beneficiary, The Nemours Foundation.
``While it is impossible to foresee the effects of the tragedy of September 11, 2001 upon St. Joe's future results,'' said Kevin M. Twomey, St. Joe president, COO and CFO, ``we continue to be cautiously optimistic that the upcoming fourth quarter will be another strong quarter. We expect to exceed current analyst estimates for the fourth quarter, especially with the Boca Raton building sale that was delayed from the third quarter.''
``We continue to believe strongly in the fundamental strength of Florida,'' said Rummell. ``Florida's economy is diversified and growing. It remains the number one location for Baby Boomers on the move. While portions of the tourist industry may be impacted, Florida's economic health and long-term growth prospects continue to be strong.''
``St. Joe is uniquely positioned,'' said Rummell. ``We're not like most other real estate companies in that our fixed costs are very low. Our greatest asset, our 1930's-priced land holdings are carried at a very low cost. When we do develop, horizontal infrastructure is tightly phased to market demand and, for the most part, vertical development is initiated only on a contractual basis. As we have said for many years, our nearly one million acres of low basis land in Florida combined with the strength of our balance sheet is a real advantage for St. Joe in any economic environment.''
St. Joe intends to report its third quarter 2001 results on Wednesday, October 17, 2001, prior to the market opening.
The St. Joe Company, a publicly held company based in Jacksonville, is Florida's largest real estate operating company. It is engaged in community, commercial, industrial, hospitality, leisure and resort development, along with residential and commercial real estate services. The company also has significant interests in timber.
More information about St. Joe can be found at our web site at joe.com.
``While it is impossible to foresee the effects of the tragedy of September 11, 2001 upon St. Joe's future results, we continue to be cautiously optimistic that the upcoming fourth quarter will be another strong quarter. We expect to exceed current analyst estimates for the fourth quarter, especially with the Boca Raton building sale that was delayed from the third quarter,'' Kevin Twomey, the company's chief financial officer, said in a statement. |
