Exxon Mobil Profits Plunge 63%
April 29 2016 - 9:10AM
Dow Jones News
Exxon Mobil Corp., the largest U.S. oil company, said its
first-quarter profit plunged 63% as oil prices remain depressed,
but the decline was smaller than analysts had predicted.
Shares of Exxon edged up 0.8% to $88.75 in premarket trading as
the company's beat expectations.
The Irving, Texas, company reported a profit of $1.81 billion,
or 43 cents a share, down from $4.94 billion, or $1.17 a share, a
year earlier. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected a
per-share profit of 31 cents.
Revenue dropped 28% to $48.71 billion. Analysts had forecast
revenue declining to $48.14 billion.
Profit in the exploration and production, or upstream, business
swung to a $76 million loss. In the U.S., the upstream division
widened its loss to $832 million from $52 million a year
earlier.
Exxon also was hurt by declining profit in the downstream
division, which had previously been a boon amid lower prices for
oil and gas.
In the latest quarter, refining and marketing earnings, or
downstream, plunged 46% to $906 million. Exxon said weaker margins
decreased earnings by $860 million while volume and mix effects
increased earnings by $10 million.
Exxon said it cut its capital spending by 33% from the prior
year to $5.13 billion.
Exxon has moved to conserve cash as oil and gas prices languish
at their lowest levels in more than a decade.
Oil companies around the world have been battered by a price
crash that has left crude and natural gas stubbornly low. Producing
countries such as Saudi Arabia and major international oil
companies like Chevron have all continued to pump more fuel in the
face of the crisis—a standoff that shows no signs of abating.
Write to Anne Steele at Anne.Steele@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 29, 2016 08:55 ET (12:55 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2016 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Aug 2024 to Sep 2024
Exxon Mobil (NYSE:XOM)
Historical Stock Chart
From Sep 2023 to Sep 2024