Devon Energy Corp., the largest U.S.-based independent oil and gas producer, reported a 44 percent jump in second-quarter profits Wednesday, easily beating Wall Street expectations.
The company cited increased oil and gas sales at higher prices and an increase in production.
Devon posted a net income of $1.3 billion, or $2.88 per share, in the second quarter, compared with $904 million, or $2 per share, in the same period last year.
Revenue climbed 21 percent to $3.55 billion from $2.93 billion in the year-ago quarter.
There were a number of one-time charges and gains, including an unrealized $912 million pretax loss on oil and natural gas derivatives, a $312 million income tax expense and a $736 million pretax gain on divestitures of assets in Africa.
Excluding those items, Devon said it earned $1.5 billion, or $3.39 per share.
Analysts surveyed by Thomson/IFR, on average, expected profits of $3.28 per share on higher revenue of $4.06 billion. Analysts typically exclude one-time items from their estimates.
Company shares rose $3.60, or 4 percent, to $92.50.
Devon said its net exit-rate production from the Barnett Shale field in north Texas reached almost 1.1 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent per day. The company said it brought 189 new Barnett Shale wells online during the second quarter and it plans to drill more than 650 wells in the area during the year.
Devon said it has now completed substantially all of its planned divestitures in Africa.
Copyright 2008 The Associated Press.
