Layne Christensen falls to 4Q loss, misses Street

Drilling and construction services provider Layne Christensen Co. said Monday it fell to a loss in its fiscal fourth quarter as mineral exploration revenue dropped by nearly half.

Its adjusted results widely missed Wall Street expectations, sending its shares sharply lower in the morning session. The stock plunged $3.46, or 17.8 percent, to $15.97.

For the three months ending Jan. 31, Layne Christensen lost $11.4 million, or 59 cents per share, compared with a profit of $9.6 million, or 50 cents per share, in the year-ago period.

Excluding a one-time non-cash impairment charge due to lower natural gas prices, the Mission Woods, Kan.-based company earned company earned 24 cents per share.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected, on average, higher earnings per share of 40 cents per share. Such expectations typically exclude one-time charges and benefits.

Revenue edged up to $229.4 million from $223.6 million. Analysts expected revenue of $232.5 million.

Mineral exploration revenues decreased 47.3 percent as "mining companies extended holiday mine shutdowns and delayed or reduced spending programs in response to tightening credit and economic uncertainty and lower prices for base metals," the company said in a news release.

For full fiscal 2009, Layne Christensen earned $26.5 million, or $1.37 per share, compared with $37.3 million, or $2.20 per share, in the previous year. Stripping out one-time items, the company earned $42.6 million, or $2.20 per share.

Annual revenue rose to $1.01 billion from $868.3 million.