Higher production and buoyant oil prices put a sheen on fourth-quarter results from Chesapeake Energy Corporation (NYSE:CHK).
The energy company reported net income of US$309mln, equivalent to 33 US cents a share, which represented a big turnaround from the same period a year before when it reported a net loss of US$740mln – a loss of 83 US cents a share.
READ: Chesapeake Energy cuts third quarter production target due to weather and closed asset sales
The consensus forecast was for earnings per share of 83 US cents.
Revenue also topped expectations, clocking in at US$1.26bn, versus US$678mln the year before and market expectations of US$1.25bn.
“We made significant progress toward our goals of reducing our debt, increasing cash flow generation and margin enhancement,” declared Doug Lawler, the chief executive officer of Chesapeake.
“Fiscal year 2017 was a pivotal year for Chesapeake, as we restored our production and increased net cash provided by operations, increased our oil production, adjusted for asset sales, and significantly improved our cost structure by reducing our combined production, general and administrative and gathering, processing, and transportation expenses by approximately $510 million,” he continued.
“We further demonstrated the depth of our portfolio by closing on approximately $1.3 billion in asset and property sales and signed additional asset sales for approximately $575 million that we expect to close by the end of the 2018 second quarter. We reduced our outstanding secured term debt by approximately $1.3 billion, or 32 percent, continued to remove legal obligations and recorded the best environmental and safety performance in our company's history,” he added.
The stock was up 7.2% at US$2.82 in pre-market trading, before surging over 18% in the regular session.