Ashland: Fiscal Q4 Earnings Snapshot

WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — WILMINGTON, Del. (AP) — Ashland Inc. (ASH) on Tuesday reported a fiscal fourth-quarter loss of $16 million, after reporting a profit in the same period a year earlier.

The Wilmington, Delaware-based company said it had a loss of 35 cents per share. Earnings, adjusted for one-time gains and costs, came to $1.12 per share.

The results fell short of Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of five analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for earnings of $1.30 per share.

The chemical company posted revenue of $498 million in the period, also missing Street forecasts. Five analysts surveyed by Zacks expected $500.7 million.

For the year, the company reported net income of $4 million, or 9 cents per share, swinging to a profit in the period. Revenue was reported as $1.86 billion.

Ashland shares have climbed 24% since the beginning of the year. In the final minutes of trading on Tuesday, shares hit $73.02, a rise of 51% in the last 12 months.

_____

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