HOUSTON (AP) - Anadarko Petroleum Corp. said Monday its first-quarter profit
fell 83 percent from a year ago, when results included nearly $1.7 billion in
asset sales gains.
Anadarko, one of the nation's largest independent exploration and production
companies, posted profit of $286 million, or 61 cents a share, for the quarter
ended March 31, compared with $1.7 billion, or $3.70 a share, a year earlier.
Revenue fell to $2.9 billion from $5.2 billion, the company said.
Net income in the most-recent quarter was reduced by about $440 million, or
94 cents a share, by one-time items.
On average, analysts polled by Thomson Financial were expecting earnings of
$1.22 per share on $3.13 billion in revenue. Those forecasts typically don't
account for special items.
In the first quarter of 2007, the company's profit was lifted by $1.66
billion, or $3.56 a share, from sales as Anadarko reshaped itself following its
$22 billion purchase of Kerr-McGee Corp. and Western Gas Resources Inc.
The Kerr-McGee and Western Gas deals took place in August 2006. Since then,
Anadarko has sold off assets to reduce debt, but kept higher margin, less
capital intensive fields in places like the Rocky Mountains and east Texas.
The company has said it met a goal of reducing its long-term debt in 2007
from about $26 billion to about $12 billion. Long-term debt stood at about $11.2
billion at the end of the first quarter.
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