HUNTINGTON, W.Va. (AP) — Natural gas pipeline builder Energy Services of America Corp. is blaming weather for the bulk of a fiscal first-quarter loss.

Huntington-based Energy Services said Tuesday it lost $2.1 million, or 18 cents per share, in the three month-period that ended Dec. 31. The company earned $354,000, or 3 cents per share, in the same period a year earlier.

Chief Executive Marshall Reynolds says weather and other tough working conditions hampered two projects, resulting in a $3.2 million loss by one of Energy Services’ subsidiaries. Otherwise, Reynolds says the company would have lost $200,000, or 2 cents per share, in the quarter.