Apr 26, 2016 1 min read

CANONSBURG (AP) — Consol Energy Inc. reported a loss in its first quarter, pulled down by severance expense, a loss tied to the sale of a gathering pipeline and an unrealized loss on commodity derivative instruments.

The natural gas company said in a news release Monday it lost $97.6 million, or 43 cents per share, for the three months ended March 31. A year earlier the company earned $79 million, or 34 cents per share.

Losses, adjusted to account for discontinued operations and one-time costs, were 7 cents per share. This was better than the loss of 9 cents per share that analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research expected.

Revenue declined to $558.5 million from $792.7 million. Analysts polled by Zacks forecast higher revenue of $679.5 million.