Talisman Energy Slips To Loss In Q4 - Quick Facts

(RTTNews) - Talisman Energy Inc. (TLM, TLM.TO) said that its fourth-quarter net loss was $1.01 billion, compared to net income of $376 million in the year ago quarter. On a per share basis, net loss was $0.98 versus net income of $0.31 last year.

The company recorded a net loss of approximately $1 billion in the fourth quarter, compared to a loss of $54 million in the third quarter, primarily due to impairments.

Loss from operations per share widened to $0.11 from $0.10 in the year ago quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to report a loss of $0.01 per share for the quarter. Analysts' estimates typically exclude special items.

Total revenue and other income for the quarter declined to $929 million from last year's $1.663 billion. Four analysts estimated revenues of $1.46 billion for the quarter.

The prior year results have been restated to reflect the change to equity accounting of TSEUK and Equion on adoption of IFRS 11.

Separately, Talisman Energy announced its capital spending program and expected operating results for 2014.

2014 capital expenditure is expected to be approximately $3.2 billion, unchanged from 2013 and down around 20% from 2012. Over 70% of expected 2014 capital spending will be invested in the Americas and Asia-Pacific.

The two core regions , the Americas and Asia-Pacific, are expected to deliver a 14-19% increase in liquids volumes in 2014 (from 97,000 bbls/d in 2013 to 111,000-115,000 bbls/d in 2014). The majority of growth will come from North America and Colombia.

In addition, the company said it will begin a second phase of non-core asset sales, and aim to dispose of a further $2 billion of assets that demand substantial capital investment to generate long-dated cash flows.

In addition to non-core asset sales agreed in 2013 and in first-quarter of 2014, expected to total over $2.2 billion, Talisman said it will continue to simplify and streamline its portfolio with the expected sale of approximately $2 billion of additional assets (primarily long-dated, non-core capital intensive) over the next 12-18 months.