Barnwell loses money without resort land sales

A Honolulu company engaged in oil and gas production in Canada along with resort home site development and drilling operations in Hawaii suffered a $1 million loss in its fiscal first quarter following a $1.6 million profit a year earlier.

Barnwell Industries Inc., which reported its earnings Monday, said it received a $460,000 benefit from federal income tax changes under President Donald Trump. But that was more than offset by expenses that exceeded revenue.

Revenue totaled $1.9 million for the three months ended Dec. 31, compared with $4.3 million in the same period the year before. Revenue was lower for oil and gas production as well as for drilling work that includes development of water wells. Barnwell also had no revenue from Hawaii land sales in the recent quarter compared with $1.7 million a year earlier that represented the company’s share of a $21 million lot sale at Kukio Resort on Hawaii island.

Barnwell has been cautioning investors for more than a year that it projects negative cash flow from energy production and is relying more on real estate investment returns and asset sales to sustain business.

On Feb. 1, Barnwell completed a sale of some oil properties in Alberta for $1.4 million, which will be reflected in the company’s fiscal second quarter.

Shares of lightly traded Barnwell stock fell 17 cents to close at $2.11 Monday after the earnings report was released.