Kerr-McGee 3Q profit down on charges

Wednesday, October 27th 2004, 9:21 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Kerr-McGee Corp. on Wednesday said its third-quarter profit slid on a charge related to the shutdown of a pigment plant and higher environmental and capital expenses.

For the three months ended Sept. 30, the oil and natural gas producer reported earnings of $7.4 million, or 5 cents per share, down from $76.7 million, or 29 cents per share, in the year-ago period. The results included a write-down related to closing the Savannah titanium dioxide pigment plant, higher environmental charges, and higher nonhedge commodity and other derivative losses.

Excluding these items, income from continuing operations was $177.4 million, or $1.17 per share, up from $76.7 million, or 76 cents per share, for the 2003 quarter third quarter.

Quarterly revenue rose 36 percent to $1.4 billion on oil production, which was up 33 percent to an average of 341,600 barrels per day. These gains were offset by capital expenditures, which rose to $453.1 million from $266 million last year.

The results beat the estimates of analysts surveyed by Thomson First Call, who were looking for earnings per share of 94 cents, excluding items, on revenue of $1.26 billion.

Looking forward, the company said it expects production to increase in the fourth quarter and predicts average daily production will increase 15 percent in 2005.