Portfolio Stock / EnCana Corp.
EnCana Quarterly Profit Surges In 'Remarkable' Year
By TERRY WEBER 022003
Globe and Mail Update
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EnCana Corp., Canada's biggest independent energy company, posted sharply higher fourth-quarter earnings amid surging oil and gas prices, capping what the company described as a "remarkable" year.
For the quarter, Calgary-based EnCana, formed last year by the merger of Alberta Energy and PanCanadian Energy, posted earnings of $429-million or 88 cents a share, compared with $90-million or 34 cents in the comparable period a year earlier.
Cash flow in the latest quarter was $1.47-billion or $3.03 a share, while revenues totalled $3.39-billion.
"2002 can only be described as a year of remarkable achievement for EnCana," Gwyn Morgan, EnCana's president and chief executive, said.
"Just over one year ago, we set out to create a best-in-class independent oil and gas company. We have made tremendous progress towards that goal."
Outlining its latest results, EnCana said fourth quarter natural gas sales averaged 3.04 billion cubic feet per day, up 21 percent over pro forma results in the fourth quarter of 2001.
EnCana withdrew an average of 149 million cubic feet per day of natural gas from storage to capitalize on strong seasonal prices. Oil and NGLs sales averaged 271,000 barrels per day, up about 8 per cent, compared to pro forma results in the fourth quarter of 2001.
Looking ahead, EnCana said its 2003 total daily conventional oil and gas sales volumes are forecast to grow by an average of 10 per cent per common share from 2002 pro forma rates to between 740,000 and 797,000 barrels of oil equivalent.
"That sales forecast is comprised of between 3 billion and 3.1 billion cubic feet of gas per day and 240,000 and 280,000 conventional barrels of oil and NGLs per day," the company said.
"These figures exclude any contribution from Syncrude prior to the sale of EnCana's interests."
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Formal News Release
EnCana Earns $1.25 Billion in 2002, Cash Flow Exceeds $4.2 Billion
newswire.ca |
