Hess Trades Lower Following Preliminary Q4 Results

Shares of Hess Corp. HES were trading lower by more than 1.5 percent heading into Wednesday's opening bell after the company released its preliminary fourth quarter results.

Hess expects a loss of $1.40 per share in the fourth quarter on revenue of $1.387 billion. Wall Street analysts were expecting the company to lose $1.47 per share on revenue of $1.50 billion.

Hess added its adjusted net loss is expected to be $396 million compared to an adjusted net income of $53 million in the same quarter a year ago.

Net loss for the quarter is said to be $1.821 billion. Oil and gas production production was 368,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day compared to 362,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day in the same quarter a year ago.

Year-end total proved reserves were 1.086 billion barrels of oil equivalent, down from 1.431 billion in the prior year. The company cited "negative revisions to proved undeveloped reserves resulting from lower crude oil prices."

"We finished 2015 with one of the strongest balance sheets and liquidity positions among our E&P peers," Chief Executive Officer John Hess said. "Looking forward, our top priority is to continue to keep our balance sheet strong. Our 2016 capital and exploratory budget is 40 percent below our 2015 spend and we will continue to pursue further cost reductions. At the same time, we plan to continue to invest in future growth."