Peabody Energy reports fourth-quarter loss, misses expectations

ST LOUIS, Mo. (AP) — Peabody Energy Corp. (BTU) on Tuesday reported a loss of $514.6 million in its fourth quarter.

On a per-share basis, the St. Louis-based company said it had a loss of $1.92. Losses, adjusted for asset impairment costs and to account for discontinued operations, came to $1.21 per share.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 36 cents per share.

The coal miner posted revenue of $1.68 billion in the period, surpassing Street forecasts. Analysts expected $1.63 billion, according to Zacks.

For the year, the company reported that its loss widened to $787 million, or $2.94 per share. Revenue was reported as $6.79 billion.

For the current quarter ending in March, Peabody expects its results to range from a loss of 39 cents per share to a loss of 32 cents per share.

Peabody shares have fallen 14 percent since the beginning of the year, while the Standard & Poor's 500 index has stayed nearly flat. The stock has declined 60 percent in the last 12 months.

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This story was generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on BTU at http://www.zacks.com/ap/BTU

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Keywords: Peabody Energy, Earnings Report