Consol Energy plans to sell or spin-off coal business

Consol Energy says it is looking to separate its coal unit from its oil and gas business this year. Twitter photo.

Consol Energy focussing on oil and gas business

Jan 31 (Reuters) – Coal and natural gas producer Consol Energy Inc broke even on an adjusted basis in the fourth quarter, and said it planned to sell its coal business or spin it off to shareholders.

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The Pittsburgh-based company, which spun off some of its coal assets to form CNX Coal Resources LP in 2015, has been focusing on its oil and gas business.

The company said on Tuesday it was looking to separate its coal unit from its oil and gas business as early as 2017.

Consol sold its Buchanan Mine in southwestern Virginia and some other metallurgical coal reserves to a privately held company for about $420 million last year.

The company, which gets most of its profits from the Marcellus shale in Southwest Pennsylvania and West Virginia and the Utica shale in Ohio, said total revenue from its exploration and production business rose 5.6 per cent to $280.1 million in the fourth quarter ended Dec. 31.

Consol’s loss from continuing operations was $321.2 million, or $1.42 per share, in the quarter, compared with a profit of $45.3 million, or 18 cents per share, in the year-earlier period.

Excluding a $237 million loss on commodity derivatives and other items, the company broke even on a per-share basis. The average analyst estimate was 1 cent per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Total revenue and other income fell about 31 per cent to $462 million.

(Reporting by Vishaka George in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil D’Silva and Martina D’Couto)