AUSTIN, Texas (AP) _ USA Compression Partners LP (USAC) on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter net income of $9.3 million, after reporting a loss in the same period a year earlier.

The Austin, Texas-based company said it had profit of 3 cents per share. Losses, adjusted for asset impairment costs, were 1 cent per share.

The results exceeded Wall Street expectations. The average estimate of three analysts surveyed by Zacks Investment Research was for a loss of 2 cents per share.

The natural gas compression services company posted revenue of $178.2 million in the period.

For the year, the company reported net income of $39.1 million, or 2 cents per share, swinging to a profit in the period. Revenue was reported as $698.4 million.

USA Compression shares have dropped 17% since the beginning of the year. The stock has climbed nearly 1% 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 USAC at https://www.zacks.com/ap/USAC

Automated Insights, source Associated Press News