NEW YORK (AP) - Bermuda-based oil and gas drilling company Nabors Industries Ltd. said it lost almost $84 million because of charges related to bad hedges, but its operating profit beat analyst expectations.

The company said the loss of 30 cents per share compared with a year-earlier profit of $222.2 million, or 78 cents per share. Revenue was $1.24 billion, down 5.4 percent from $1.31 billion a year ago.

Nabors said it took charges of $405 million, or $1.13 per share. Not counting those charges, it would have earned $230.7 million for the quarter, or 83 cents per share. Its operating revenue was almost $1.48 billion.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters were expecting a profit of 81 cents per share on revenue of $1.46 billion. Nabors had said on February 13 that it expected to earn 80 to 82 cents per share.

For the year, the company posted net income of $551.2 million, or $1.93 a share, down 41 percent from $930.7 million, or $3.25 a share, in 2007. Revenue rose 7.3 percent to $5.3 billion from $4.94 billion.

"Our fourth-quarter and full-year results were severely impacted by the previously disclosed non-cash charges. These items obscure what operationally was a solid performance despite the abrupt and severe reversal we saw in our Lower 48 land drilling and well servicing businesses late in the year," said Gene Isenberg, Nabors' chairman and chief executive.