HOUSTON (AP) — Occidental Petroleum Corp. (OXY) on Tuesday reported a first-quarter loss of $2.01 billion, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.
The Houston-based company said it had a loss of $2.49 per share. Losses, adjusted for non-recurring costs, were 52 cents per share.
The results missed Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 50 cents per share.
The oil and gas exploration and production company posted revenue of $6.45 billion in the period, which beat Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $5.22 billion.
Occidental shares have fallen 63% since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor’s 500 index has fallen 11%. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $15.32, a decline of 74% in the last 12 months.
“As the world battles this pandemic, we are focused on preserving the health and safety of our employees and contractors while taking aggressive action to ensure our long-term financial stability. We have identified an additional $1.2 billion in operating and corporate cost savings and reduced our full-year capital budget to between $2.4 billion to $2.6 billion, while protecting the integrity of our assets,” said President and Chief Executive Officer Vicki Hollub. “Our leadership as a low-cost operator, track record of operational excellence and portfolio of world-class assets are competitive advantages that position us for success when market conditions eventually improve.”
Oil and gas pre-tax income for the first quarter was $179 million, compared to $921 million for the fourth quarter of 2019. First quarter results were impacted by the steep decline in oil prices in March triggered by a significant drop in oil demand as governments around the world implemented measures to contain the spread of COVID-19.
