WASHINGTON (dpa-AFX) - Nabors Industries Ltd. (NBR) Tuesday reported a net loss for the fourth quarter of $105.8 million or $0.36 per share, compared to net income of $50.5 million or $0.17 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Net loss from discontinued operations for the quarter was $194.0 million or $0.66 per share, reflecting further impairments and reserves, primarily against certain of the company's natural gas assets as well as a small number of fixed assets in the US and Canada that were being actively marketed for sale.
In the year-ago quarter, the net loss from discontinued operations was $100.3 million or $0.35 per share.
For the quarter, net income from continuing operations was $89.5 million or $0.30 per share, dropping from $152.1 million or $0.52 per share in the year-ago quarter.
Excluding a $0.22 charge from the contingent liability that existed on December 31, 2011 related to the change of the company's chief executive officer, adjusted earnings from continued operations were $0.52 per share for the quarter.
On average, 27 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected earnings of $0.50 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.
Total revenues for the quarter grew to $1.740 billion from $1.319 billion in the prior-year quarter. Nineteen Street analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $1.720 billion.
Tony Petrello, Nabors' president and CEO, said, 'The quarter's results reflect solid operational improvement across all of our North America businesses. The impairments and reserves we incurred in the quarter reflect conservative estimates of realizable value and should serve to minimize future noncash charges that detract from our operating results, other than the potential for further ceiling test charges in our NFR joint venture.'
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