Sanchez Energy posts $1.4M 4Q loss

HOUSTON (AP) -- Sanchez Energy Corp. posted a $1.4 million fourth-quarter loss, pulled down by losses related to fluctuations in oil and gas prices.

For the quarter ended Dec. 31, the Houston-based independent oil and gas company, which went public in December, said its loss amounted to 6 cents per share and compared with a profit of $361,000, or 2 cents per share, in the same quarter last year.

Analysts, on average, expected a profit of 3 cents per share, according to a FactSet poll.

The recent quarter's results reported Wednesday included an unrealized loss on derivative activities of $2 million against none in the year-ago period.

Revenue jumped 50 percent to $4.6 million from $3.1 million, boosted by steep increases in both oil and natural gas sales. Analysts polled by FactSet expected $4.7 million in revenue.

Production rose 38 percent from year-ago levels to 56,007 barrels of oil equivalent. At the same time, the company's average oil price rose 9.2 percent to $82.97 per barrel of equivalent. The average realized natural gas price dropped by almost half, to $2.37 per thousand cubic feet.

For the full year 2011, Sanchez earned $2 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with a loss of $2.8 million, or 12 cents per share, in 2010. Revenue rose to $14.5 million from $4.6 million.