Slowing Housing Market Takes its Toll On Many Florida Companies

According to the Florida Times-Union, it’s not just sellers and builders who are hurt by the declining North Florida housing market.

Like sister company, Florida Rock Industries Inc., Patriot Transportation Holding Inc. expects the drop-off in new housing starts to affect its results this year.

The transportation and Florida real estate company that was spun off from Florida Rock two decades ago operates two trucking subsidiaries, one of which hauls construction materials throughout the Southeast.

With Florida mortgage demand tepid at best, and the housing market in the midst of a slump throughout the state, Patriot expects that part of its business to slump as well.

“We’re going to suffer for a quarter or two,” Chairman Edward Baker said at Wednesday’s annual shareholders meeting.

President and CEO John Anderson said the business got off to a strong start in fiscal 2006.

“If anything, there was more freight than trucks. We like that,” he said. “But in the middle of summer, things stopped.”

Despite a standstill in the housing market and steadily rising Florida home mortgage loan rates that quelled demand, and even the drop in construction material, Patriot produced strong results in the fiscal year that ended September 30.

Patriot continued to improve earnings in the first quarter ended December 31, with revenue rising 5 percent to $37.1 million and earnings rising 14 percent to $2.2 million, or 69 cents a share.

The company does not break down its results to show how much of the transportation business was related to home construction. But it’s by far the biggest part of its business, with $31.7 million in first-quarter revenue alone.

The outlook is decidedly better for Patriot’s commercial real estate operation. Anderson said its portfolio of 2.47 million square feet of space was 93.3 percent leased as of September 30.

“Our real estate development momentum continues to be very favorable,” he said.