DOW JONES NEWSWIRES
Cabot Oil & Gas Corp. (COG) fourth-quarter earnings rose 35%
thanks to asset-sale gains, but as the independent natural-gas
producer saw adjusted profit decline more than expected on lower
commodity prices and overall higher absolute expenses.
The company said Tuesday that despite higher output and lower
per-unit expenses, lower commodity prices hurt revenue and an
increase in total expenses drove the profit decline.
Like many gas producers, Cabot has been struggling with low gas
prices recently. However, its production levels have climbed,
hitting a record quarterly high in the previous quarter. In the
latest period, gas volume increased 45%, although average price
fell 35%.
Cabot, which has been developing sites in the Marcellus Shale in
Pennsylvania and the Haynesville and Eagle Ford shales in Texas,
also has been selling assets. In November, it sold its remaining
Canadian business to a newly public Canadian company in a
cash-and-stock deal it at $61.3 million, after it earlier agreed to
sell some of its midstream shale assets in Pennsylvania's Marcellus
shale to Williams Partners LP (WPZ) in a $150 million deal that
included a 25-year gathering agreement.
Cabot reported a profit of $49.1 million, or 47 cents a share,
from $36.4 million, or 34 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding
items such as stock-based compensation, write-downs and asset-sale
gains, earnings fell to 19 cents a share from 51 cents. Revenue
decreased 7.1% to $216.9 million.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters predicted 21 cents as share
in earnings on revenue of $217 million.
Cabot shares closed Tuesday down 2.5% at $39.83 and weren't
active after hours. Through the close, the stock has fallen 3.2% in
the past year.
-By Joan E. Solsman, Dow Jones Newswires; 212-416-2291;
joan.solsman@dowjones.com