Williams turns huge loss into profit

<br>(Tulsa-AP) -- Tulsa-based Williams Companies has gone from near bankruptcy a year ago to reporting a third-quarter profit of more than $106-million Thursday. <br><br>The company says it earned 20 cents

Thursday, November 6th 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

(Tulsa-AP) -- Tulsa-based Williams Companies has gone from near bankruptcy a year ago to reporting a third-quarter profit of more than $106-million Thursday.

The company says it earned 20 cents per share during the quarter compared to a loss of more than $294-million, or 58 cents per share, during the same quarter last year.

Williams says improvement in its energy trading division and nearly two years of cost cutting helped lead to the profit.

Williams has sold more than $7-billion in assets during the past two years and is trying to sell the energy trading division.

The company is restructuring its operations to focus on its core business of finding, producing, transporting and processing natural gas.