Petrohawk, QuickSilver Post Losses

Oil and gas producers Petrohawk Energy(HK Quote) and QuickSilver Resources(KWK Quote) both reported fourth-quarter losses on Wednesday mostly due to writedowns of their oil and gas reserves.

Houston-based Petro Hawk reported a loss of $545.1 million, or $2.18 per share, compared with a loss of $114,000, or break even, during the same period last year. Excluding nonrecurring items, Petrohawk reported a net loss for the quarter of 4 cents per share.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters expected a profit of 3 cents per share, on average. Revenue rose 19% to $270.7 million. Analysts were looking for revenue of $225.9 million.

QuickSilver, which posted a $465.9 million loss ($2.79 per diluted share) in the fourth quarter, reported adjusted net income that beat Wall Street expectations, due to an increase in production. QuickSilver's bottom line suffered from an impairment charge of $633.5 million) in the quarter as the value of the company's oil and gas properties declined along with falling commodity prices.

Shares of Petrohawk were trading at $18.60, up $1.10, or 6.29%. Shares of QuickSilver were trading at $5.82, up 1 cent.