Anadarko Loss Wider Than Estimates

(RTTNews) - Anadarko Petroleum Corp (APC) on Monday reported a wider-than-expected loss for the first quarter, crippled mostly by lower commodity prices.

Anadarko and other oil companies have been hurt by an about 50 percent slide in oil prices in the past 10 months, forcing the industry to slow down on drilling programs and eliminate jobs. Exxon Mobil, BP plc and Total SA all had reported lower quarterly earnings, but above analysts' estimates.

Anadarko posted first-quarter net loss to stockholders of $3.27 billion or $6.45 per share, compared with a loss of $2.67 billion or $5.30 per share last year.

Results for the quarter included one-time after-tax losses of $2.9 billion, mainly related to impairments, while the prior year had a Tronox-related contingent loss of $4 billion, among other items.

Excluding items, adjusted loss for the quarter was $0.72 per share, compared with a profit of a year ago.

On average, 34 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a loss of $0.65 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

The company said its revenues for the quarter slid to $2.32 billion from $5.84 billion last year. Twelve analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $2.52 billion for the quarter.

Anadarko said its sales volumes of natural gas, crude oil and natural gas liquids (NGLs) averaged 920,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, up from 789,000 boe per day in the prior year.

The company expects sales volume of up to 79 million boe in the second quarter. For the full year, Anadarko raised the midpoint of its guidance by 5 million boe, now expecting a range of 300 to 306 million boe.

Anadarko plans full-year capital expenditure of up to $5.7 billion.

APC closed Monday at $93.73, down $0.19 or 0.20%, on a volume of 4.5 million shares on the NYSE. In after hours, the stock dropped $0.78 or 0.83% at $93.49. In the past year, the stock has trended in the range of $71.00 - $113.51.