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Honolulu-based oil, natural gas and real estate company Barnwell Industries Inc. narrowly missed earning a profit in its 2011 fiscal year after a poor fourth quarter.
The company reported Monday a net loss of $109,000 for the 12 months that ended Sept. 30, compared with a profit of $3.8 million in the same period last year.
A net loss of $533,000 in the fiscal fourth quarter pulled the company into the red.
Morton Kinzler, Barnwell’s chairman and CEO, said a $1.2 million reduction in value for real estate held for sale during the year — $917,000 of which occurred in the last quarter — contributed to the negative results.
Other negative factors, including a decline in leasehold land sales revenue to $1.3 million from $3.6 million, a 10 percent decline in natural gas prices, less revenue from drilling and the absence of a tax benefit totaling $1.5 million last year, overcame a 12 percent rise in oil production and a 22 percent gain in oil prices.
Barnwell has ownership stakes in Hawaii island resort property and statewide water-drilling operations, but the majority of revenue is from oil and natural gas operations in Alberta, Canada. Revenue totaled $38.5 million last year, down from $41.9 million the year before.
Kinzler said the company remains in a "solid" financial position and was able to repay $2.3 million in long-term debt last year.
Shares of Barnwell stock fell 6 cents in trading Monday on the American Stock Exchange after the earnings announcement to close at $3.12.
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