Hess Reports Wider Loss, Trims Spending

   By Anne Steele 
 

Hess Corp. posted a deeper loss in the latest quarter, though earnings slid less than expected as the company cut spending to pace with the slowdown in the global energy market.

The prolonged swoon in energy prices, particularly in crude oil, continues to damp the energy provider's results. Average crude selling price fell 9.1% in the quarter to $41.50 a barrel from $45.66 a year earlier.

Chief Executive John Hess said the company continues to take steps to "materially reduce our spending." Total costs and expenses during the quarter were 18% lower than a year ago.

Hess's exploration and production business posted a loss of $234 million in the quarter, compared with a loss of $188 million a year ago. The segment's capital and exploratory expenditures nearly halved to $435 million.

Oil and gas production fell 16% to 314,000 barrels of oil equivalent a day.

In all for the September quarter, the company posted a loss of $339 million, or $1.12 a share, wider than its year-earlier loss of $279 million, or 98 cents a share. Excluding certain costs, the company posted an adjusted per-share loss of $1.12, wider than $1.03 loss a year ago.

Revenue dropped 29% to $1.2 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had expected a loss of $1.24 a share on $1.21 billion in revenue.

Hess's stock, down 13% over the past 12 months, edged 0.4% lower in light premarket trading.

Write to Anne Steele at [e-mail].

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 26, 2016 09:08 ET (13:08 GMT)

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