ONEOK Posts Higher 4Q Earnings, Sales

Wednesday, February 23rd 2005, 2:14 pm

By: News On 6

TULSA, Okla. (AP) _ Natural gas distributor ONEOK Inc. said Wednesday that fourth-quarter earnings shot up 56.4 percent year-over-year due to favorable commodity pricing and continued contract restructuring efforts.

Net income rose to $98.4 million, or 90 cents per share, from $62.9 million, or 66 cents per share, a year ago. Analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call were looking for the company to post earnings of 90 cents per share in the latest quarter.

Total revenue surged to $2.6 billion from $849 million last year.

The company reaffirmed previous earnings guidance for 2005 in the range of $2.22 to $2.28 per share, excluding earnings from trading opportunities which have been included in 2004 results. Analysts are forecasting profit of $2.30 per share, on average.