Kerr-McGee 2Q Earnings More Than Triple

Wednesday, July 27th 2005, 9:24 am

By: News On 6

OKLAHOMA CITY (AP) _ Kerr-McGee Corp. on Wednesday said earnings more than tripled as the energy company benefited from both skyrocketing oil and gas prices and stronger volume from its acquisition of Westport Resources Corp.

Quarterly profit rose to $370.8 million, or $2.60 per share, from $110.6 million, or $1.01 per share, last year. Earnings from continuing operations rose to $372.3 million, or $2.61 per share, while adjusted income was $378.4 million, or $2.65 per share, excluding discontinued operations and other items.

Revenue rose to $1.85 billion from $1.1 billion in the year-ago period.

On average, analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial expected profit of $2.35 per share on sales of about $1.5 billion.

``While achieving record net income for the quarter, we have remained focused on transitioning to a pure-play exploration and production company with a balanced portfolio of oil and gas assets,'' said Chairman and Chief Executive Luke R. Corbett in a statement. ``Strong market conditions in the energy and chemical sectors provide us with this opportunity and we have returned immediate value to our stockholders through the repurchase of approximately 29 percent of our total outstanding shares as of March 31.''

Oil and gas companies have benefited from rising oil prices, which reached an intraday high of $62.10 a barrel July 7 and are about 43 percent higher from a year ago. Light sweet crude for September delivery climbed 20 cents to settle at $59.20 a barrel Tuesday on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Kerr-McGee's daily oil production averaged 175,000 barrels during the second quarter, compared with 140,500 barrels in the year-ago period. Exploration, production and chemical operating profit was $719.1 million, compared with $276.9 million in the year-ago period.

Exploration and production operating profit was $685.4 million, compared with $263 million for the prior-year quarter. The increase was due to higher oil and gas prices, volumes, and increased business due to its acquisition of Westport last June.