ST. LOUIS (AP) -- Arch Coal reported a smaller quarterly loss on Tuesday thanks to an increase in revenue.
The St. Louis-based company also announced that it will stop paying dividends to investors, another way to preserve cash. Last year, the company froze pension benefits for its employees.
"In light of the ongoing market weakness, we believe that suspending the dividend is a prudent step to preserve our liquidity," said John Drexler, Arch's chief financial officer, in a statement.
Arch Coal reported a loss of $240.1 million, or $1.13 per share, for the fourth quarter. It lost $371.2 million, or $1.75 per share, a year ago. Its revenue rose 4 percent to $745.2 million.
Analysts expected a smaller loss of 38 cents per share, according to analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research. But the company's revenue beat the consensus estimate of $720.6 million.
For the year, the company reported that its loss narrowed to $558.4 million, or $2.63 per share. Revenue came in at $2.94 billion.
Cheap natural gas has weakened demand for coal over the past year, leading investors to flee coal mining companies.
The company's battered stock rose 14 cents to $1.09 in midday trading Tuesday. Arch Coal's shares have already lost 42 percent in the new year.
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Elements of this story were generated by Automated Insights (http://automatedinsights.com/ap) using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on ACI at http://www.zacks.com/ap/ACI
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Keywords: Arch Coal, Earnings Report