El Paso Beats Street, Stock Soars

Texas oil and gas producer El Paso(EP Quote) swung to a loss in the first quarter, but still beat analysts' expectations, sending shares soaring in early trading.

During the quarter, the company recorded a loss of $978 million, or $1.41 a share, compared with a profit of $200 million, or 29 cents, in the year-ago period.

But excluding $1.3 billion, or $1.92 a share, in non-cash charges, El Paso posted a profit of 47 cents, far surpassing analysts' expectation of 27 cents.

"The improvement is due to realized gains on oil and natural gas hedges and continued pipeline growth," the company said in a statement.

Revenue rose to $1.48 billion from $1.27 billion last year.

Shares in the company were at $8.77, up 14%, in early morning trading.