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: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) 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.