NEW YORK (AP) -- Canadian natural gas producer Encana Corp. reported a $1.48 billion loss for the second quarter as it took a huge charge related to falling gas prices.
The company said Wednesday that it would continue to shift more of its production into oil and gas liquids to take advantage of higher prices for those fuels.
Encana shares fell 63 cents, or 3.1 percent, to $19.75 in midday trading. In the past year, the shares have ranged from a low of $17.02 in January to a peak of $30.27 in July 2011.
Encana took a $1.7 billion charge related to the decline in gas prices over the past year. It said that there will probably be more such write-downs in the future.
The loss equaled $2.01 per share. A year ago, the company earned $383 million, or 52 cents per share.
Excluding the impairment charge, hedging losses and other special items, Encana would have earned $198 million, or 27 cents per share, compared with $352 million, or 48 cents per share, a year earlier.
Analysts, who usually exclude items from their calculations, had expected adjusted earnings of 18 cents per share, according to FactSet.
Revenue plummeted to $731 million from $1.99 billion a year earlier. Analysts expected $1.48 billion.
Production of gas fell 15 percent. Liquids production rose 17 percent but was far smaller.
The price that the company got for natural gas fell 6 percent including the impact of hedging. Prices for oil and gas liquids also fell.
