Barnwell Industries managed to earn a small profit in its fiscal third quarter largely due to real estate sales on the Big Island and higher oil and natural gas prices.

The Honolulu-based company that is engaged in energy exploration in Canada and real estate investment and development in Hawaii reported a net profit of $314,000, or 4 cents a share, for the three months ended June 30. That was up dramatically from a net loss of $3.2 million, or 39 cents a share, in the same quarter last year.

Revenue totaled $8.8 million in the recent quarter, compared with $7.5 million a year earlier.

In the 2009 third quarter, Barnwell’s loss was principally due to reducing the value of oil and natural gas properties. The gain in the recent quarter was aided by a $1.2 million payment representing a percentage of proceeds from a partnership developing and selling homes adjacent to the Four Seasons Resort Hualalai on the Big Island’s Kona Coast. A year earlier, Barnwell derived no partnership payment.

Higher oil and natural gas operations also contributed to the third-quarter results. Barnwell said average prices for oil and natural gas were up 34 percent in the quarter compared with a year earlier.

"We are pleased to again report significantly improved results compared to last year," Morton Kinzler, Barnwell’s chairman and chief executive officer, said in a statement. The third-quarter gain represented the third consecutive quarter that Barnwell has earned a profit.

Shares of Barnwell stock closed down 4 cents yesterday at $3.03.