SoCal Gas’ Parent Posts Quarterly Loss : Energy: Pacific Enterprises reports $118 million in red ink after taking a charge related to sale of a unit.

Anticipating a lower sale price for its oil and gas exploration and production subsidiary, Pacific Enterprises said Tuesday that it took a huge $156-million after-tax charge for the second quarter.

As a result, the company lost $118 million, or $1.63 a share, for the quarter ended June 30. That contrasts with earnings of $40 million, or 50 cents a share, for the comparable 1991 quarter.

Revenue was off 6% to $652 million, from $697 million.

Pacific Enterprises is the Los Angeles-based parent company of Southern California Gas Co. and the Thrifty drugstore chain.

The company’s stock closed Tuesday at $19.25 a share, up 12.5 cents, in New York Stock Exchange trading. It announced its earnings after the market closed.

Pacific Enterprises President William Wood Jr. said a weak market for oil and gas assets will result in a loss from the sale of the company’s oil and gas business. The sale does not involve SoCal Gas. He added that selling the subsidiary now benefits shareholders “by allowing us to complete our strategic restructuring.”

A spokesman said Pacific Enterprises paid about $700 million for various components of the oil and gas subsidiary. The $156-million charge reflects the loss the company expects to absorb when the unit is sold. It has not announced a sale agreement for the subsidiary.

The company had previously announced plans to sell its retail operations. In July, it sold its 124-store Pay ‘n Save chain to Payless Drug Stores, a unit of Kmart Corp. Its remaining retail operations will be sold to Leonard Green & Partners in a deal expected to be completed in September.

The company’s first-quarter earnings were hurt by a $475-million charge to account for projected losses from sale of the retail operations.

For the six-month period, the company lost $582 million, contrasted with earning of $81 million in the comparable period of 1991.

The company said second-quarter income from continuing operations declined 38% to $33 million, from $53 million.

Pacific Enterprises’ core business, SoCal Gas, reported second-quarter operating income after taxes of $57 million, down from $76 million a year earlier. Pacific Enterprises said the decline was the result of a one-time, $15-million gain in 1991 from the sale of property.