Barnwell pumps
up earningsHigher prices and growing
production boosted profits
Higher oil and natural gas prices, plus increased production, vaulted Barnwell Industries Inc. to a $650,000 fiscal third-quarter profit from a $220,000 loss a year ago.
The Honolulu-based oil and natural gas exploration company said yesterday prices rose from the same time a year ago, boosting revenue, and that natural gas production was up 8 percent.
The company's net income for the quarter was 47 cents a share, compared with a loss of 17 cents a share for the same period last year.
Morton H. Kinzler, Barnwell's chairman and chief executive officer, said the natural gas volume increase was due to new production from recent drilling. Barnwell invested $2.8 million in exploration and development during the quarter, about $600,000 more than a year ago. For the first nine months of the company's fiscal year, Barnwell spent $6.9 million on exploration and development.
Revenue for the quarter grew to $6.1 million from $4 million a year ago. Barnwell said it participated in the drilling of 25 wells during the past three quarters, compared with nine wells for the same period a year earlier.
For the fiscal year to date, Barnwell reported a profit of $1.8 million, compared with a loss of $280,000 a year ago. Revenue in the nine-month period was boosted by the first-quarter sale of Big Island land development rights by Kaupulehu Developments, which is 77.6 percent owned by Barnwell. Kaupulehu received $2.1 million as the second of 10 scheduled payments for development rights within the Hualalai Resort.
Barnwell's stock, which is up almost 24 percent this year, closed 70 cents higher yesterday, at $24.85 after the earnings announcement.
