UPDATE 1-Natural Resource Q4 beats estimates

* Q4 profit/lpu $0.39 vs est. of $0.26/unit

* Q4 revenue drops 13 pct; beats estimates

Feb 11 (Reuters) - Natural Resource Partners LP (NRP.N), which leases coal reserves to miners, posted fourth-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates on higher coal transportation fees and oil and gas royalties.

In the latest quarter, the company posted a net income of $27.4 million, or 39 cents a unit, compared with $36.6 million, or 56 cents a unit, a year ago.

Quarterly revenue for company, which leases its reserves to almost all public coal companies in the United States, barring a few western operators, dropped 13 percent to $65.9 million.

Analysts, on average, were looking for earnings of 26 cents a share, before items, on revenue of $61.6 million, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

"As 2009 progressed, we began to see first a stabilization of the overall coal market and then, toward the end of the year, a strengthening of the market for metallurgical coal," said Nick Carter, Chief Operating Officer.

Shares of the Houston-based company closed at $23.73 Thursday on the New York Stock Exchange. (Reporting by Antonita Madonna Devotta in Bangalore; Editing by Jarshad Kakkrakandy)