Chesapeake Energy quarterly profit and output rise
(Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp (CHK.N), the second-largest U.S. producer of natural gas, on Wednesday reported an 8 percent increase in third-quarter profit that topped Wall Street estimates on higher-than-expected output.
Profit rose to $169 million, or 26 cents per share, from $156 million, or 24 cents a share, a year earlier.
Excluding one-time items that included costs to redeem preferred shares, Chesapeake had a profit of 38 cents per share. Analysts on average had expected 33 cents, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Oil and gas output, adjusted for asset sales, averaged 726,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (boepd), up 11 percent from a year earlier.
Analysts at energy-focused investment bank Tudor Pickering Holt had estimated Chesapeake's third-quarter production at 704,000 boepd and characterized the results as a "strong beat" in a note to clients.
(Reporting by Anna Driver, Editing by Franklin Paul and Lisa Von Ahn)
