Penn Virginia 1Q profit falls on derivatives expense

For the quarter ended March 31, Penn Virginia earned $3.9 million, or 9 cents per share, compared with $4.4 million, or 11 cents per share, for the same quarter in 2007.

Excluding the effects of a noncash change in derivatives fair value, Penn Virginia posted an adjusted profit of $20.8 million, or 50 cents per share, compared with an adjusted $16.5 million, or 43 cents per share, in the prior-year quarter.

Total revenue grew 34 percent to $249.1 million from $186.3 million in the year-ago period.

Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected a profit of 47 cents per share on $251.3 million in revenue.

Oil and gas production rose 21 percent to 10.5 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent, from 8.7 billion cubic feet of natural gas equivalent in the year-ago quarter.

The company said it still expects production on an equivalent basis to range between 49.2 billion cubic feet and 51.7 billion cubic feet.

Penn Virginia shares rose 99 cents to close at $54.23.