Chesapeake Energy posts profit; asset sales continue

(Reuters) - Chesapeake Energy Corp (NYS:CHK), the No. 2 U.S. natural gas producer, reported a third-quarter profit on Wednesday, compared with a loss a year earlier, and said it expects additional asset disposals in the fourth quarter, raising about $600 million (373 million pounds).

Chesapeake, which has been shedding assets and cutting jobs, has raised $3.6 billion from asset sales so far this year and said it expects to reduce capital spending next year.

Profit was $156 million, or 24 cents per share, in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $2.1 billion, or $3.19 per share, a year earlier, when the company wrote down the value of some of its natural gas assets.

Excluding special items, profit was 43 cents per share, matching analysts' average estimate, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

Daily production in the third quarter dipped 2 percent due to asset sales, but daily oil output rose 23 percent, the Oklahoma City-based company said.

Chesapeake shares rose 2 percent to $28.80 in premarket trading. They closed at $28.14 on Tuesday on the New York Stock Exchange.

(Reporting by Anna Driver and Swetha Gopinath; Editing by Maju Samuel and John Wallace)