CONSOL mulls sale of its coal business
CANONSBURG — CONSOL Energy Inc. on Tuesday said it may sell its coal business in the coming year.
The company referenced the possible sale as it reported a fourth-quarter loss of $306 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.
On a per-share basis, the Southpointe-based company said it had a loss of $1.33. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, were less than 1 cent on a per-share basis.
The average estimate of six analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 1 cent per share.
The natural gas company posted revenue of $462 million in the period, which missed Street forecasts. Three analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $619.1 million.
For the year, the company reported that its loss widened to $848.1 million, or $3.70 per share. Revenue was reported as $2.03 billion.
CONSOL shares have risen slightly since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has increased almost 2 percent. The stock has more than doubled in the last 12 months.
In reporting its results on Tuesday, CONSOL also said it may sell its coal business this year.
“We think there may be a market opportunity to achieve a sale of the coal business on favorable terms or, alternatively, to effect a spin-off as our leverage ratio comes down to a level that allows each business to stand on its own,” said Chief Financial Officer David Khani in the company’s fourth-quarter earnings release.
The company has been separating its coal and gas businesses over the past couple of years. In 2015, it spun off some of its coal assets to form CNX Coal Resources.