Chesapeake Energy Corp. on Thursday posted a 3 percent rise in fourth-quarter profit due to increased production of oil and natural gas and higher selling prices.
After paying preferred dividends, net income expanded to $445.5 million from $431.8 million in the 2005 quarter. Per-share earnings fell to 96 cents from $1.11 over the same period, as the company increase the number of shares outstanding.
Chesapeake said it would have earned $418 million, or 90 cents per share, excluding a $27 million gain related to hedging activities.
Revenue climbed to $1.87 billion from $1.75 billion a year earlier.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial forecast earnings of 77 cents per share on $1.52 billion in sales.
During the quarter, Chesapeake produced 138.8 billion cubic feet of natural gas, up from 118.3 billion a year earlier. The company's average realized price rose as well -- bucking the trend toward lower natural gas prices through its hedging program. Chesapeake fetched $9.03 per thousand cubic feet of gas versus $8.08 in the year-ago period.
Oil production grew to 2.2 million barrels from 2 million barrels at the same time, and Chesapeake's average realized prices increased to $59.95 a barrel from $52.65 a barrel.
Earnings in 2006 swelled to $1.9 billion, or $4.35 per share, from $879.6 million, or $2.51 per share, a year earlier. Full-year revenue surged to $7.33 billion from $4.67 billion in 2005.
AP
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