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SAN FRANCISCO — The newly combined ChevronTexaco Corp. stumbled to a fourth-quarter loss of $2.5 billion as the company paid for the aftershocks of its merger and revised its outlook in the depressed energy market. 

The loss, which translated into $2.36 per share, stemmed from $3 billion in charges as the company lowered the projected value of some holdings and dealt with the costs of the October marriage between Chevron and Texaco. 

The fourth-quarter setback, announced Tuesday, contrasted with a profit of $2.04 billion, or $1.92 per share, in the prior year. That figure represents what the company estimates it would have earned had Chevron and Texaco been together in the final three months of 2000. 

This year, fourth-quarter revenue plunged 33 percent to $21.46 billion, down from $32.26 billion in the prior year’s comparable period, reflecting lower prices the company received for oil, gasoline and natural gas. 

Even without the special charges, the fourth quarter represented a letdown. 

ChevronTexaco said it earned $498 million, or 47 cents per share, excluding the fourth-quarter charges — a 78 percent drop from net income of $2.29 billion, or $2.15 per share, in the prior year. 

The dramatic decline was much worse than Wall Street had anticipated. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial/First Call expected earnings of 90 cents per share, excluding special charges. If not for gains from favorable currency exchanges, Chevron’s fourth-quarter operating profit would have been 36 cents per share, or $382 million. 

The company’s shares plummeted $3.70 to close at $85.17 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. 

“This was a pretty bad miss, but at this point, I think it would have to be considered a hiccup rather than something worse,” said industry analyst Tyler Dann of Banc of America Securities. 

ChevronTexaco’s fourth-quarter slump illustrated the drastic turnaround in energy prices. As natural gas and oil prices soared in 2000 and the first half of 2001, Chevron — then operating without Texaco — enjoyed the most prosperous period of its long history. 

But the boom ended with a thud in the fourth quarter. 

ChevronTexaco said it sold its refined oil products for an average of $24.25 per barrel in the fourth quarter, a 45 percent decrease from the prior year. Meanwhile, the company sold natural gas for an average of $2.27 per thousand cubic feet, a 60 percent decline. 

“A rising tide lifted these ships and now that the tide is receding, the ships are sinking,” said industry analyst Fadel Gheit of Fahnestock & Co. “It looks like they are going to start the new year off on the wrong foot, too. I don’t think we are going to see any good news from this company during the first half of the year.” 

ChevronTexaco CEO David O’Reilly called the fourth-quarter results “disappointing,” but reassured investors the merger is proceeding smoothly. 

The company remains on track to extract $1.8 billion in annual savings from the merger, O’Reilly said, but the cost of making the expense cuts will be $2 billion — about $500 million more than management anticipated. 

ChevronTexaco recognized $1.17 billion in merger charges in the fourth quarter, including $700 million for employee severance. The company expects to record the remaining $800 million in merger charges through 2003. 

The company also registered $1.85 billion in fourth-quarter charges as management reassessed the value of its assets and how much oil ChevronTexaco is likely to recover from its properties around the world. Nearly $1.3 billion of these charges related to lowered expectations at oil fields in California’s San Joaquin Valley and in Venezuela. 

For the full year, ChevronTexaco earned $3.29 billion, or $3.08 per share, on revenue of $106.2 billion. On a comparable basis in the prior year, the company said it would have earned $7.73 billion, or $7.21 per share, on revenue of $119.1 billion. 

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On The Net: 

http://www.chevrontexaco.com