Anadarko up after Reporting Strong Earnings

Anadarko Petroleum Corp. (NYSE:APC) shares are up over 2% in morning trade after the company reported profits and revenues for its December quarter that exceeded analyst estimates. Anadarko reported a fourth-quarter loss of $358 million, or 72 cents per share, after the market closed Monday. That compares with a profit of $111 million, or 22 cents per share, for the same part of 2010.

The company had taken $1 billion in after-tax impairments in the quarter. About $1 billion in after-tax impairments were primarily related to coalbed methane holdings in the Powder River Basin, John Christiansen, a spokesman, said in a telephone interview. The non-cash charges occurred because of low natural-gas prices, which reduced the carrying value of the assets, he said.

But excluding payments to BP for the 200 million gallon oil spill, Anadarko said it earned 85 cents per share. Quarterly revenue increased 42.7 percent to $3.84 billion. The results easily exceeded analyst consensus forecasts that called for earnings of 60 cents per share on revenue of $3.29 billion. For the full year, Anadarko said it lost $2.65 billion, or $5.32 per share, compared with earnings of $761 million, or $1.52 per share, in 2010.

“During 2011, we continued to demonstrate the power of Anadarko’s capital-efficient portfolio by achieving sales volumes at the high end of guidance with capital spending at the low end of the guidance range. We also generated significant discretionary cash flow and delivered record sales volumes, strong reserve additions at very competitive costs, and a leading deepwater exploration and appraisal drilling success rate,” said Anadarko Chairman and CEO Jim Hackett. “The depth and performance of our portfolio continues to keep us on the path toward meeting our strategic objectives” he added.

“It looks like it’s a combination of pricing and production,” Andrew Coleman, an analyst at Raymond James in Houston who has a “strong buy” on Anadarko shares said in a telephone interview.

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Post Written By: Ed Liston Ed Liston is a senior contributing editor at TheStockMarketWatch.com. An active market watcher and investor, Ed guides an independent team of experienced analysts and writes for multiple stock trader publications. He is widely quoted in various financial publications on the Internet. When Ed is not writing about stocks, investing in stocks, talking about stocks, or otherwise doing something stock related, he likes to go sailing and fishing in his yacht.