Noble Energy Q4 Profit Declines - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Noble Energy Inc. (NBL) announced fourth quarter 2013 net income of $134 million, or $0.37 per share, down from $251 million or $0.70 per share in the year ago quarter.

Excluding the impact of unrealized commodity derivative losses and certain other items, fourth quarter 2013 adjusted income from continuing operations declined to $182 million or $0.50 per share, from $282 million or $0.78 per share in the fourth quarter of 2012.

But, total revenues for the quarter grew to $1.328 billion from the prior year's $1.167 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report earnings of $0.62 per share and revenues of $1.31 billion for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Charles D. Davidson, Noble Energy's Chairman and CEO, said, " The DJ Basin and Marcellus Shale are continuing to drive significant production growth, which is expected to accelerate even more in 2014."

The full year volume guidance range for 2014 remains at 302 to 322 MBoe/d. First quarter 2014 volumes are expected to average 280 to 288 MBoe/d. The midpoint of the first quarter range is an 18 percent increase from the same period in 2013, excluding volumes from divested assets. Volumes are expected to ramp up throughout the year from the acceleration of activity in the DJ Basin and the Marcellus Shale.