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St. Joe Posts 1Q Loss Amid Declining Land Sales

The Associated Press

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (AP) — St. Joe Co., which develops real estate and owns land in Florida, said Tuesday it posted a loss during the first quarter due to continued weakness in the real estate market and declining rural land sales.

St. Joe reported a net loss of $11.7 million, or 13 cents per share, compared with earnings of $32.1 million, or 40 cents per share, during the first quarter last year.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters, on average, forecast a loss of 2 cents per share for the quarter.

Revenue fell 81 percent to $21.6 million during the quarter, from $116.6 million during the year-ago period. The sharp decline in revenue was primarily due to a drop-off in rural land sales.

St. Joe generated $4.2 million in revenue from rural land sales in the first quarter. It generated $91.1 million in revenue from the sale of rural land during the same quarter in 2008. The company noted that price per acre improved during the first quarter.

Residential real estate sales fell to $10.7 million during the quarter, from $17.7 million during the year-ago quarter. Commercial real estate revenue increased to $500,000 from $200,000.

"Although northwest Florida's real estate markets remain challenging, our residential communities have seen a relatively modest improvement in traffic and sales activity since the end of last year," Britt Greene, St. Joe's president and chief executive, said in a statement. "However, it is too early to predict a bottom or a trend."

Shares of St. Joe added 5 cents to $26.62 in morning trading.