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International News>Multibillion Q1 profit for big oil companies - Exxon, Shell revenues each top US$100b- AP |
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Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, said Thursday record crude prices helped its first-quarter profit climb 17 per cent to US$10.9 billion - the second biggest US quarterly corporate profit ever.
But the results still fell short of Wall Street's lofty forecasts, and its shares fell more than four per cent in morning trading as the market meted out punishment.
On Tuesday, BP PLC and Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe's two biggest oil producers, posted forecast-busting first-quarter earnings.
The combined profits of US$17 billion reignited calls for a windfall tax on oil profits as consumers struggle to pay for food and fuel.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown suggested that some of those profits should be reinvested in costly exploration for new oil reserves in the North Sea.
BP posted a 63 per cent surge in first-quarter net profit to US$7.6 billion (euro4.9 billion), while Shell reported a 25 per cent rise, to a record US$9.08 billion (euro5.81 billion).
Exxon's refining operations limited the company's overall earnings growth because crude prices for crude oil rose even faster than the rise in prices that drivers see at the gasolene pump.
Lower production to start the year hurt too.
Earnings
Exxon Mobil, based in Irving, Texas, said earnings for the first three months of the year rose to the equivalent of US$2.03 per share, up from US$9.3 billion or US$1.62 per share, a year ago.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial were looking for a larger profit of US$2.13 per share.
But even at US$10.9 billion, the profit ranks as the second biggest for a US company - the only bigger result in a three-month period was the US$11.7 billion Exxon Mobil posted in the final three months of 2007.
Its revenue rose to US$116.8 billion from $87.2 billion a year earlier. Analysts were looking for higher revenue of about US$124 billion.
As a result Exxon Mobil shares fell US$3.95, or 4.2 per cent, to US$89.11 in morning trading.
Revenues at BP jumped 44 per cent to US$89.2 billion (euro57.1 billion euros), while sales at Shell soared 55 per cent to US$114 billion (euro72.95 billion).
Last week ConocoPhillips reported a 16 per cent rise in net income to US$4.14 billion.
Like BP and Shell, the third biggest US producer far outpaced industry expectations.
Crude oil hit US$111.80 per barrel during the quarter, while gas jumped an average of 22 per cent.
Crude has pushed even higher since, reaching a record US$119.93 per barrel this week.
- AP