FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla., March 19 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- BFC
Financial Corporation (NYSE:BFF) ("BFC" or "the Company"), a
diversified holding company that invests in and acquires operating
businesses in a variety of industries, today announced financial
results for the fourth quarter and the full year 2006. As a holding
company with limited operations, BFC's financial results primarily
reflect the results of the operating companies in which it has its
principal investments. For the quarter ended December 31, 2006,
BFC's net loss allocable to common stock was $888,000, compared
with net income of $3.4 million in the corresponding quarter in
2005. Diluted loss per share was $0.03 in the fourth quarter of
2006, compared to diluted earnings per share of $0.10 in the
corresponding quarter in 2005. Net loss allocable to common stock
for the year ended December 31, 2006 was $3.0 million, compared
with net income allocable to common stock of $12.0 million for the
comparable 2005 period. Diluted loss per share was $0.10 for the
year ended December 31, 2006, compared to diluted earnings per
share of $0.37 for the comparable 2005 period. The Company's
results for the period reflect the lower earnings of its principal
holdings, BankAtlantic Bancorp and Levitt Corporation. Both
companies continue to implement strategic long-term initiatives
that are adversely impacting near-term results, but which are
expected to result in improved future earnings performance. Levitt
Corporation's results were impacted by the adverse market
conditions in the homebuilding industry, while BankAtlantic's
results were impacted by higher operating expenses associated with
BankAtlantic's store expansion initiatives and by a reduced growth
of earning assets and constrained net interest margin. Significant
Corporate Transaction Proposed: On January 31, 2007, Levitt and BFC
announced they had entered into a definitive merger agreement
pursuant to which Levitt will become a wholly- owned subsidiary of
BFC. BFC currently owns approximately 17% of Levitt, consisting of
all of Levitt's Class B Common Stock and approximately 11% of
Levitt's Class A Common Stock. BFC's shares currently represent a
majority of the voting power of Levitt's Common Stock. Under the
terms of the merger agreement, which was approved by Special
Independent Committees and the Boards of Directors of both
companies, holders of Levitt's Class A Common Stock, other than
BFC, will receive 2.27 shares of BFC Class A Common Stock for each
share of Levitt Class A Common Stock they hold. Levitt's stock
options and restricted stock will be converted into BFC options and
restricted stock. The transaction is subject to customary closing
conditions, and will be subject to the approval of Levitt's
shareholders, with Class A holders voting as a separate class as
well as the vote of holders of Class A Common Stock voting on the
transaction without BFC and certain individuals voting their Class
A shares. Sale Of Ryan Beck Completed: On February 28, 2007, BFC's
subsidiary, BankAtlantic Bancorp completed the sale of its
wholly-owned subsidiary, Ryan Beck Holdings, Inc. and its
subsidiaries to Stifel Financial Corporation ("Stifel"). As a
consequence of the sale, the results of operations of Ryan Beck are
reported as discontinued operations in BankAtlantic Bancorp and
BFC's financial statements for all periods. During 2005,
discontinued operations included the operations and gain from the
disposition of a shopping center previously owned by a wholly-
owned subsidiary of BFC. For 2006, discontinued operations net of
income taxes and non-controlling interest was a loss of $1.5
million, while discontinued operations in 2005, net of income taxes
and non-controlling interest contributed $5.1 million in net
income. Other Accounting Items: In 2006, results of operations
include impairment charges of $2.4 million, net of tax and
non-controlling interest, related to Levitt's write-off of
homebuilding inventory, deposits and pre-acquisition costs on
certain properties which it determined not to acquire and the
goodwill associated with its Tennessee operations. Included in the
results for 2005 is an after-tax impairment charge, net of
non-controlling interest, of $322,000 associated with BankAtlantic
Bancorp's decision to vacate and raze BankAtlantic Bancorp's former
headquarters in conjunction with the opening of a new corporate
headquarters building and a reserve net of noncontrolling interest
and taxes of $868,000 established by BankAtlantic for fines and
penalties associated with a previously disclosed deficiency in its
Anti-Money Laundering and Bank Secrecy Act compliance. As
previously announced, BankAtlantic reached a settlement with the
Department of Justice, Office of Thrift Supervision and FinCEN of
this compliance matter, and as such, the fine for which it had
reserved in 2005 had no impact on 2006 results. The results of
BankAtlantic Bancorp, Levitt Corporation, Bluegreen Corporation and
Benihana, Inc., are fully discussed in press releases available on
the websites of all four companies, at the following links:
http://www.bankatlanticbancorp.com/
http://www.levittcorporation.com/ http://www.bluegreencorp.com/
http://www.benihana.com/ On June 22, 2006, BFC announced that its
Class A common stock began trading on the NYSE Arca exchange ("NYSE
Arca") under the symbol "BFF." BFC's Class A Common Stock had
previously traded on the NASDAQ National Market since April 2003.
Segment Income: The following table shows net income (loss) for
each segment and earnings (loss) per share including the items
discussed above for the three months and twelve months ended
December 31, 2006 and 2005 (in thousands, except per share data):
Three Months Ended Year Ended 2006 2005 2006 2005 BFC Activities
$1,203 $(482) $(5,009) $(10,450) Financial Services 1,048 (2,165)
26,879 42,526 Homebuilding & Real Estate Development (10,740)
8,333 (9,163) 54,911 (Loss) income before non-controlling interest
and discontinued operations (8,489) 5,686 12,707 86,987
Non-controlling interest (loss) income (8,150) 5,300 13,404 79,267
(Loss) income from continuing operations (339) 386 (697) 7,720
Discontinued operations (362) 3,200 (1,524) 5,054 Net (loss) income
(701) 3,586 (2,221) 12,774 5% Preferred Stock dividends 187 188 750
750 Net (loss) income allocable to common stock (888) 3,398 (2,971)
12,024 Basic (loss) earnings per share from continuing operations
($0.02) $0.01 ($0.04) $0.24 Basic (loss) earnings per share from
discontinued operations ($0.01) $0.10 ($0.05) $0.18 Basic (loss)
earnings per share ($0.03) $0.11 ($0.09) $0.42 Diluted (loss)
earnings per share from continuing operations ($0.02) $0.01 ($0.05)
$0.22 Diluted (loss) earnings per share from discontinued operation
($0.01) $0.09 ($0.05) $0.15 Diluted (loss) earnings per share
($0.03) $0.10 ($0.10) $0.37 Basic weighted average number of common
shares outstanding 33,436 31,829 33,249 28,952 Diluted weighted
average number of common and common equivalent shares outstanding
33,436 33,625 33,249 31,219 - The "BFC Activities" segment includes
BFC's real estate owned, loans receivable that relate to previously
owned properties, investment in Benihana Convertible Preferred
Stock, other securities and investments, including the operations
of its wholly-owned subsidiary Cypress Creek Capital, BFC's
overhead and interest expense and the financial results of venture
partnerships which BFC controls. Since BFC is a holding company
whose principal activities consist of managing investments and
seeking and evaluating potential new investments, BFC itself has no
significant direct revenue or cash-generating operations.
Accordingly, the "BFC Activities" segment will normally reflect a
loss as the current amount of dividends, interest and fees from our
investments do not currently cover BFC parent company operating
costs. - "Non-controlling Interest" is an accounting term for that
portion of a consolidated entity that is owned by others. Both
BankAtlantic Bancorp and Levitt Corporation are consolidated in
BFC's financial statements because of BFC's voting control
ownership position in each of those companies, even though BFC's
equity ownership is less than a majority in each entity. At
December 31, 2006, BFC owned 21.6% of the economic interest and
held 54.9% of the voting control of BankAtlantic Bancorp and 16.6%
of the economic interest and 52.9% of the voting control of Levitt
Corporation. - Discontinued operations include the Ryan Beck sale
to Stifel for both 2006 and 2005 and in 2005 the operations and
gain related to a shopping center previously owned by a
wholly-owned subsidiary of BFC. Shareholders' Equity or Book Value:
Shareholders' equity or book value decreased from $183 million as
of December 31, 2005 to $177 million as of December 31, 2006. This
decrease was primarily due to the retirement of Common Stock
tendered for payment in connection with the exercise of stock
options, the net loss for the year ended December 31, 2006, the
effects of subsidiaries' capital transactions and cash dividends on
the 5% Cumulative Convertible Preferred Stock, partially offset by
the issuance of Common Stock in connection with the exercise of
stock options. Market Value of BankAtlantic Bancorp, Levitt
Corporation and Benihana, Inc.: BFC's holdings include 13.2 million
shares of common stock of BankAtlantic Bancorp and 3.3 million
shares of common stock of Levitt Corporation. The market value of
BFC's holdings in these two companies, based upon NYSE closing
prices, which will fluctuate from time to time, was $223 million at
December 29, 2006. BFC also owns 800,000 shares of Convertible
Preferred Stock in Benihana, Inc., which is convertible into
approximately 1.1 million shares of Common Stock. Based on the
closing price of Benihana's Common Stock (NASDAQ:BNHN), BFC's
investment, if converted, was worth approximately $33 million as of
December 29, 2006. Other: Our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the
year ended December 31, 2006 contains more information than this
press release and was filed with the Securities and Exchange
Commission on March 16, 2007. The Form 10-K for the year ended
December 31, 2006 is also posted on the Investor Relations page of
BFC's website, which can be accessed via
http://www.bfcfinancial.com/ About BFC Financial Corporation: BFC
Financial Corporation (NYSE:BFF) is a diversified holding company
that invests in and acquires private and public companies in
different industries. BFC is typically a long-term, "buy and hold"
investor whose direct and indirect, diverse ownership interests
span a variety of business sectors, including consumer and
commercial banking; homebuilding; development of master-planned
communities; the hospitality and leisure sector through the
development, marketing and sales of vacation resorts on a
time-share, vacation club model; the restaurant and family dining
business, and real estate investment banking and investment
services. BFC's current major holdings include Levitt Corporation,
which includes its subsidiaries Levitt and Sons(TM) and Core
Communities; Levitt Corporation's 31% ownership in Bluegreen
Corporation; BankAtlantic Bancorp and its subsidiary, BankAtlantic;
a minority interest in the renowned national restaurant chain,
Benihana, Inc., and Cypress Creek Capital, a wholly-owned
subsidiary. For further information, please visit our website at:
http://www.bfcfinancial.com/. To receive future news releases or
announcements directly via Email, please click on the Email
Broadcast Sign Up button. BFC Contact Info: Investor and Corporate
Communications: Sharon Lyn, Vice President Email: Investor
Relations: Leo Hinkley, SVP, Investor Relations Officer Email:
Mailing Address and Telephone: BFC Financial Corporation Attn:
Investor Relations 2100 West Cypress Creek Road Fort Lauderdale, FL
33309 Phone: (954) 940-4994 Fax: (954) 940-5320 Some of the
statements contained in this press release include forward- looking
statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act
of 1933, as amended (the "Securities Act"), and Section 21E of the
Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act").
All statements in this press release not dealing with historical
results are forward-looking and are based largely on various
assumptions and expectations and involve inherent risks and
uncertainties that are subject to change based on factors which
are, in many instances, beyond the control of BFC or the companies
in which BFC has invested. Some factors which may affect the
accuracy of the forward-looking statements that apply generally to
BFC include, but are not limited to, the risks and uncertainties
associated with its current investments and any future investments,
the risk that sufficient resources may not be available to make
desired investments or acquisitions, and the risk that the
strategic plans and initiatives pursued by BFC's portfolio of
companies may not be successful. Risks and uncertainties associated
with BankAtlantic Bancorp include, but are not limited to, the
impact of economic, competitive and other factors affecting the
bank, its operations, asset quality, markets, products and
services, the risk that BankAtlantic's new store expansion program
and other growth initiatives may not result in continued
development of core deposits or produce results which justify their
costs, and the risk that the value of the Stifel shares
BankAtlantic Bancorp received and may in the future receive as a
result of the sale of Ryan Beck Holdings, Inc. may decrease over
time. Risks and uncertainties associated with Levitt include, but
are not limited to, the impact of economic, competitive and other
factors affecting its operations and markets. Further, the proposed
merger of BFC and Levitt involves substantial risks and
uncertainties including, but not limited to, the risk that the
benefits of the merger to either BFC, Levitt, or both companies may
not be achieved, risks related to the timing and extent of any
homebuilding recovery, and the risk that BFC's cash flow may be
negatively impacted if a substantial number of Levitt's
shareholders exercise their appraisal rights in the merger or by
Levitt's operations after the merger. In addition, this press
release contains only summary and partial financial data for the
periods and is subject to the completion of BFC's audit. The
Company cautions that the foregoing risks and uncertainties are not
exclusive. More complete information relating to BFC and its
publicly-traded portfolio of companies, including the risks and
uncertainties relating to their respective businesses, is detailed
in reports filed by BFC and these companies with the Securities and
Exchange Commission.
http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20050714/FLTH001LOGO
http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: BFC Financial Corporation
CONTACT: Investor and Corporate Communications, Sharon Lyn, Vice
President, , or Investor Relations, Leo Hinkley, SVP, Investor
Relations Officer, , both of BFC Financial Corporation,
+1-954-940-4994 Web site: http://www.bfcfinancial.com/
http://www.bankatlanticbancorp.com/
http://www.levittcorporation.com/ http://www.bluegreencorp.com/
http://www.benihana.com/
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