REFILE-UPDATE 2-St. Joe Q4 profit beats Street, margins decline

(Refiles to correct day in paragraph 10)

Feb 19 (Reuters) - Florida real estate developer St. Joe Co (JOE.N) reported a quarterly profit that beat market expectations by a penny, but posted a decline in its operating margins mainly due to a restructuring charge.

In October, the company unveiled a plan to reduce capital expenditures, divest non-core assets and to accelerate development in Northwest Florida. It said it would restructure its operations by selling property and cutting jobs in an effort to cut costs and streamline.

Fourth-quarter operating profit fell 75 percent to $8.1 million.

Net income fell to $1 million, or 1 cent a share, from $22.3 million, or 30 cents a share, a year earlier. Revenue fell 35 percent to $93.8 million.

Excluding restructuring charges of 9 cents a share, the company would have posted earnings of 10 cents a share, a cent above analysts' expectations.

RESTRUCTURING IN PROGRESS

The company said it will cut about 80 percent of its staff as part of the restructuring plan, bringing its employee headcount to about 200 from 980 at the start of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, St. Joe said it was marketing for sale about 100,000 acres of non-strategic rural lands.

The company closed on 134 home sites and 31 homes in the fourth quarter. It plans to accelerate marketing and sales of its inventory of existing developed home sites and homes.

Earlier this month, Beazer Homes USA Inc (BZH.N) said it would stop originating mortgages, exit some homebuilding operations in four states and disclosed plans to enter the Northwest Florida market in cooperation with St. Joe. On Monday, St. Joe promoted Chief Operating Officer Britt Greene as chief executive, effective May 13. The current chief executive, Peter Rummell, will remain chairman.

Shares of the company, which rose as much as 8 percent in early morning trade, closed down $2.66 at $36.65 on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Manish Gupta, John Tilak in Bangalore; Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy)