Chevron Swings To Unexpected Loss As Sales Tumble

Chevron Corp. said Friday it swung to a fourth-quarter loss of $588 million, or 31 cents a share, battered by the low price of oil. The company had earnings of $3.5 billion, or $1.85 a share, in the year-earlier period. Revenue came to $28 billion, down from $42 billion a year ago. The FactSet consensus was for EPS of 45 cents and revenue of $27.7 billion. "Our 2015 earnings were down significantly from the previous year, reflecting a nearly 50 percent year-on-year decline in crude oil prices, " Chief Executive John Watson said in a statement. The company is taking steps to improve earnings, cutting costs and selling assets. "I expect similarly large reductions again in 2016," said Watson. "In addition, asset sales proceeds were $6 billion in 2015, with additional sales planned for 2016 and 2017." Shares fell 1.4% in premarket trade, and are down 17% in the last 12 months, while the S&P 500 has fallen 6.3%.