Chesapeake Energy Corp. (NYSE: CHK) posted a quarterly loss on Aug. 1 as a drop in natural gas prices and higher expenses ate into the company’s margins.
Shares of the company, which reported an 18.2% rise in total operating expenses, were down 4.5% at $4.51 in premarket trading.
The company’s stock had risen as high as 9% last week on the news that it agreed to sell its interest in the Utica Shale operating area in Ohio for about $2 billion to Encino Acquisition Partners.
The company has been seeking to repair its balance sheet, loaded down with $9.83 billion in debt.
But with natural gas, its prime revenue generator, at an average sales price of $2.56 per thousand cubic feet (Mcf), down from $2.88/Mcf a year ago, the quarterly numbers took a hit.
Natural gas prices have fallen about 4% this quarter from year-ago levels, as production has reached a record high. Chesapeake’s average daily production rose 0.5% to 530,000 boe/d, while average sales price rose 13.8% to $25.56/boe/d.
The Oklahoma-based company said net loss available to shareholders was $40 million, or 4 cents per share, in the second quarter ended June 30, compared with a profit of $470 million, or 47 cents per share, a year earlier.
Excluding items, the company earned 15 cents per share in-line with analysts’ average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters.
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