Kinder Morgan swings to loss on $1.15 billion charge

(Reuters) - U.S. pipeline giant Kinder Morgan Inc swung to a fourth-quarter loss, hurt by a $1.15 billion in impairment charges due to falling commodity prices. The company said it cut its 2016 capital budget to $3.3 billion, assuming West Texas Intermediate crude oil price of $38 per barrel, from its previous estimate of $4.2 billion. Kinder Morgan said on Wednesday it does not expect to access the capital markets to fund growth projects in 2016. The company, once resilient to falling oil prices, in December cut its dividend by 75 percent for the first time since going public to maintain cash. Kinder Morgan posted net loss available to shareholders of $637 million in the quarter ended Dec. 31, compared with a profit of $126 million a year earlier. Excluding items, the company's profit fell to $491 million from $664 million. The Houston-based company's revenue fell 8 percent to $3.63 billion. Kinder Morgan's shares, which touched a record low of $11.20 during regular hours, were down 2.6 percent at $11.70 in extended trading. (Reporting by Anet Josline Pinto in Bengaluru; Editing by Don Sebastian)