XTO Energy 3Q profit jumps 22 percent

FORT WORTH, Texas - Oil and gas producer XTO Energy Inc. said Wednesday its third-quarter profit jumped 22 percent as production increased amid high energy prices.

For the period ended Sept. 30, the company earned $521 million, or 94 cents per share, compared with net income of $412 million, or 84 cents per share, a year earlier.

Excluding derivatives losses, the company said it earned $545 million, or 99 cents per share.

Revenue rose 50 percent to $2.13 billion from $1.42 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected, on average, earnings of 98 cents per share on revenue of $2.07 billion. Analysts typically exclude one-time items from their estimates.

"This quarter offered great opportunities for our operational team as we integrated the acquisition properties and began to see exciting field results," President Keith A. Hutton said in a statement.

Production rose 24 percent to 2.39 billion cubic feet equivalent from 1.93 billion cubic feet equivalent.

Expenses jumped to $1.16 billion from $714 million between the periods.

Shares slipped 13 cents to $37.12 in morning trading Wednesday after trading as high as $38.36 earlier in the session. The stock has traded between $23.80 and $73.74 in the past 52 weeks.

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