[B]Company Aggressively Pursues Pre-Development on Land Adjacent to New Airport[/B] [B]Jacksonville, Florida [/B]- (February 23, 2010) - The St. Joe Company (NYSE: JOE) today announced a Net Loss for the full year ended 2009 of $(130.0) million, or $(1.42) per share, compared to a Net Loss of $(35.9) million, or $(0.40) per share, for the year ended 2008. Included in the 2009 results were significant pre-tax charges of $163.1 million, or $1.07 per share after tax, compared to pre-tax charges of $109.5 million, or $0.69 per share after tax, in the year ended 2008. All per-share references in this release are presented on a diluted basis. St. Joe's President and CEO Britt Greene stated, "2009 was marked by many St. Joe accomplishments during a very turbulent economic year for the country. We significantly strengthened our balance sheet, reduced overhead costs and increased our financial flexibility. We also focused our efforts on positioning the Company to benefit from the May 2010 opening of the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. We are energized by the significant opportunities the airport will present since it is surrounded by some of St. Joe's most valuable land holdings." [B]Full Year Highlights[/B] [LIST] [*]Completed the sales of non-strategic assets generating significant cash and tax receivables as well as reducing holding costs. Dispositions included: [LIST] [*]Remaining assets at Victoria Park in DeLand, Florida. [*]St. Johns Golf & Country Club near Jacksonville, Florida. [*]Remaining homes at Artisan Park in Celebration, Florida. [*]SevenShores condominium project in Bradenton, Florida. [*]Homes and homesites in North and South Carolina in connection with the satisfaction of our Saussy Burbank notes receivable. [/LIST] [*]Generated $57.5 million of revenue from residential real estate sales. [*]Sold 29 acres of commercial land for $6.6 million, or over $227,000 per acre. [*]Sold 6,967 acres of rural land for $14.3 million, or over $2,050 per acre. [*]Increased the Company's cash position by $48.3 million to $163.8 million and reduced debt by $10.1 million as compared to December 31, 2008. [*]Annuitized approximately $93 million of pension plan liabilities by transferring approximately $101 million of the plan assets to an insurance company. [*]Extended the maturity date of the Company's revolving credit facility to September 19, 2012 and increased the commitments to $125 million from $100 million. [*]Led the regional effort to facilitate Southwest Airlines' decision to launch service at the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport. [*]Announced agreements with The Haskell Company, TranSystems Corporation and CB Richard Ellis Group, Inc. to masterplan and market for joint venture, lease or sale certain St. Joe land adjacent to the new airport. [/LIST] [B]Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport[/B] St. Joe and Southwest Airlines (NYSE: LUV) have announced a strategic alliance providing for the commencement of low-fare air service to the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport scheduled to open on May 23, 2010. The new airport is surrounded by 71,000 acres (28,700 hectares) that St. Joe owns within the West Bay Sector Plan, a large mixed-use master-planned project located in Bay County in Northwest Florida. Southwest Airlines' service will include two daily non-stop flights between the new airport and each of Houston, Nashville, Orlando and Baltimore-Washington DC. In addition to the eight daily non-stop flights, Southwest Airlines will offer direct or connecting service to more than 60 destinations from the new airport including Dallas, San Antonio, Chicago, St. Louis, Ft. Lauderdale, Tampa, New York LaGuardia and Providence. In 2009, final approval was granted to the local airport authority by the Federal Aviation Administration to extend the runway to 10,000 feet. This extension allows for commercial trans-Atlantic flights and European charters as well as larger commercial cargo planes. The extension was completed in January 2010 and the FAA has finished its flight operations testing. St. Joe continues its pre-development activity on 1,000 acres (400 hectares) within the West Bay Sector Plan adjacent to the new airport. The master plan is complete and the infrastructure design is in final engineering. It has been designed to accommodate office, retail, industrial and hotel uses, and construction on the Phase 1 infrastructure is slated to begin in the second quarter of 2010. [B]Liquidity and Balance Sheet[/B] At December 31, 2009, St. Joe had cash of $163.8 million and pledged treasury securities of $27.1 million, along with debt of only $39.5 million, $27.1 million of which is defeased debt. The majority of the Company's tax receivable of $62.4 million is expected to be received in the second half of 2010. St. Joe's $125 million revolving credit facility remained undrawn at December 31, 2009. "In 2009, we successfully continued our efforts to reduce capital expenditures, eliminate expenses and increase our financial flexibility," said William S. McCalmont, St. Joe's Executive Vice President and CFO. "Our liquidity position has been enhanced due to the utilization of our tax-loss carryback strategy, the sales of non-strategic assets, the disposition of aging home inventories and the successful renegotiation and extension of our corporate credit facility. For 2010 and beyond, we are well positioned to maximize the opportunities that the opening of the new Northwest Florida Beaches International Airport will provide." Capital expenditures for the full year 2009 were $18.4 million, compared to $34.7 million for the same period in 2008, a reduction of 47 percent. In addition, St. Joe incurred cash overhead costs of $57.6 million for the full year 2009, compared to $81.7 million for the same period in 2008, a 30 percent reduction. [B]Land Holdings and Land Use Entitlements[/B] On December 31, 2009, St. Joe owned approximately 577,000 acres, concentrated primarily in Northwest Florida. Approximately 405,000 acres, or 70 percent of the Company's total land holdings, are within 15 miles of the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. On December 31, 2009, St. Joe's land-use entitlements in hand or in process totaled approximately 31,600 residential units and approximately 11.6 million square feet of commercial space, as well as an additional 646 acres with land-use entitlements for commercial uses. [B]Fourth Quarter 2009 Financial Results[/B] For the fourth quarter of 2009, St. Joe had a Net Loss of $(59.3) million, or $(0.65) per share, which included pre-tax charges of $84.0 million, or $0.56 per share after tax. This compares to a Net Loss of $(27.9) million, or $(0.31) per share, for the fourth quarter of 2008, which included pre-tax charges of $57.9 million, or $0.36 per share after tax. St. Joe's fourth quarter earnings included $73.3 million of pre-tax, non-cash impairment charges including $67.8 million related to the sale of the remaining assets at Victoria Park ($6.9 million recorded in discontinued operations), $3.5 million related to the sale of the St. Johns Golf & Country Club (recorded in discontinued operations), $1.1 million related to the sale of the assets acquired in connection with the settlement of our Saussy Burbank notes receivable, $0.8 million associated with various homes and homesites and $0.1 million associated with a builder note receivable. The Company also wrote-off $7.2 million of capitalized costs related to abandoned development plans in certain of our projects and incurred a restructuring charge of $3.5 million related to one-time termination benefits. [B][U]Conference Call Information[/U][/B] On February 23, 2010, at 10:30 a.m. (EST), St. Joe will host a conference call to review the Company's results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2009. To participate in the call, please phone 888.208.1711 (for domestic calls) or 913.312.0411 (for international calls) approximately ten minutes before the scheduled start time. You will be asked for a confirmation code which is 9921384. The Company will also webcast the conference call in a listen-only format on its website at [URL="http://www.joe.com/"]www.joe.com[/URL]. Following the call, you may access a replay of the call by phoning 888.203.1112 (for domestic calls) or 719.457.0820 (for international calls) using access code 9921384. A webcast archive of the conference call will be posted to the Company's website approximately 90 minutes following the call. Access to the replay and the website will be available until March 2, 2010. [B][U]About St. Joe[/U][/B] The St. Joe Company, a publicly held company based in Jacksonville, is one of Florida's largest real estate development companies and Northwest Florida's largest private landowner. St. Joe is primarily engaged in real estate development and sales, with significant interests in timber. More information about the Company can be found on its website at [URL="http://www.joe.com/"]www.joe.com[/URL].
