Press Release
December 7, 2000
The St. Joe Company (NYSE:JOE) yesterday announced that the company has entered into an agreement with the Alfred
I. duPont Testamentary Trust (``the Trust''), the majority stockholder of the company, and the Trust's primary
beneficiary, The Nemours Foundation, to participate in the St. Joe stock repurchase program. The agreement calls
for the Trust and the Foundation to sell a portion of their shares to St. Joe as a part of St. Joe's on-going stock
repurchase program.
Through this agreement the Trust, for a 90 day period, will sell to St. Joe each Monday a number of shares equal
to 1.5 times the amount of shares St. Joe purchased from the public during the previous week. The Trust shares
will be purchased at a price exactly equal to the volume weighted average price, excluding commissions, paid by
St. Joe for shares purchased from the public during that week. However, no shares will be sold by the Trust if
that week's average price of shares repurchased by St. Joe is below $20 per share. Through this program, the Trust
will support the stock buyback program but will continue to maintain approximately its same ownership percentage
of St. Joe.
``We are very pleased that the Trust has agreed to work with the company to support our on-going stock repurchase
program,'' said Peter S. Rummell, St. Joe chairman and CEO. ``We are fully committed to our stock repurchase program.
This agreement allows St. Joe to increase the pace of our repurchase activity and accelerate per share results
for shareholders. Our goal remains to purchase, on average, 1 million shares per quarter from the public. We are
particularly pleased with our repurchase activity in the fourth quarter. Through December 5, 2000 the company repurchased
945,700 shares at an average price of $20.04.''
``This stock repurchase program reflects our confidence in the value this company can deliver,'' said Rummell.
``We feel that the company's value is not fully reflected in our current stock price. Our intent is to spread our
increasing earnings over fewer shares.''
``With the successful spin-off of Florida East Coast Industries, Inc., St. Joe's management team is now tightly
focused on a company with unique real estate assets and positioned to deliver value to shareholders,'' said Winfred
L. Thornton, chairman of the Trust. ``The Trust's holdings in St. Joe remains one of our most important assets,
and we see the stock repurchase program as an effective tool to increase per share value. We are happy to participate
on a pro-rata basis.''
``Our stock repurchase program is an important component of our overall strategy to deliver value to shareholders,''
said Kevin M. Twomey, St. Joe president and COO. ``We will continue to report to shareholders quarterly the results
of the stock repurchase program. These reports will now include both purchases from the open market and from the
Trust.''
``We anticipate that cash flow over the next several years will allow us to continue to expand our real estate
business across Florida, to fund the stock repurchase program and to reduce the company's bank debt,'' said Twomey.
``We will continue to evaluate all investment alternatives and select those which contribute most to shareholder
value.''
In the first quarter of 2000, St. Joe completed its initial $150 million stock repurchase authorization and received
Board of Directors' approval for a second repurchase program of $150 million. As of December 5, 2000, the company
had 84,553,792 total shares outstanding of which 49,643,292 shares were held by the duPont Trust and 2,232,408
shares are held by The Nemours Foundation.
On October 9, 2000, St. Joe completed its tax-free pro rata spin-off of its 54 percent equity interest in Florida
East Coast Industries, Inc. (NYSE:FLA) and (NYSE:FLA.B) to St. Joe shareholders.
Total Stock Repurchase Program
To-Date Through December 5, 2000
Authorization Shares Purchased Average Price Total Cost
Per Share (in millions)
Pre-Spin
(Prior to October
9, 2000)
Authorization no.1 6,485,311 $23.13 $150.0
Authorization no.2 636,955 $27.95 $ 17.8
Post-Spin
(October 9, 2000
and later)
Authorization no.2 945,700 $20.04 $19.0
Total Program 8,067,966 $186.8
The Alfred I. duPont Testamentary Trust of Jacksonville, Florida was established under the last will and testament
of Alfred I. duPont in 1935 to establish and benefit The Nemours Foundation, a charitable hospital foundation.
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 http://www.joe.com.
Forward-Looking Statements
Certain matters discussed in this press release are ``forward-looking statements'' within the meaning of the Private
Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such matters involve risk and uncertainty, and there can be no assurance
that the results described in such forward-looking statements will be realized. For example, discussions regarding
the number of shares to be repurchased and the availability and anticipated deployment of cash flows to fund repurchases
are forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on current expectations and are subject to certain risks.
Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize or should the underlying assumptions prove incorrect,
the company's actual execution of its stock repurchase program may differ materially from that indicated or suggested
by any forward-looking statement contained in this press release. Additional risk factors that may cause the actual
execution of the company's stock repurchase program to differ materially from that indicated or suggested by any
forward-looking statement contained in this press release are described in various documents filed by the company
with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, including the company's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year
ended December 31, 1999.
``The St. Joe Company and the ''taking flight`` logo are service marks of The St. Joe Company.