Entered into the database on Thursday, October 27th, 2005 @ 18:15:57 MST
Exxon Mobil Corp. had a quarter for the record books. The world's largest
publicly traded oil company said Thursday high oil and natural-gas prices helped
its third-quarter profit surge almost 75 percent to $9.92 billion, the largest
quarterly profit for a U.S. company ever, and it was the first to ring up more
than $100 billion in quarterly sales. Net income ballooned to $9.92 billion, or $1.58 per share, from $5.68 billion,
or 88 cents per share, a year ago. Excluding certain items, earnings were $8.3 billion, or $1.32 per share, versus
$6.23 billion, or 96 cents per share, in the 2004 quarter. Analysts polled by Thomson Financial, on average, predicted earnings excluding
items of $1.38 per share. Revenue grew to $100.72 billion from $76.38 billion in the prior-year period. Howard Silverblatt, equity analyst at Standard & Poor's, said both the
net income and sales figures are all-time records for publicly traded U.S. companies. The hurricanes slashed Exxon Mobil's U.S. production volumes by 50,000 barrels
of oil equivalent per day, down nearly 5 percent year-over-year, costing the
company $45 million before taxes. The company said total daily production slipped
to 2.45 million barrels of oil equivalent from 2.51 million barrels. "Following the hurricanes, Exxon Mobil maximized gasoline production from
all of our refineries which were operating in the U.S., and increased imports
from overseas affiliates to meet U.S. demand," said Chairman Lee R. Raymond. Earnings from U.S. upstream operations increased by $498 million to $1.67 billion,
while U.S. downstream earnings jumped $548 million to $1.11 billion. In the
U.S. and abroad, income from the company's chemicals segment declined by $537
million to $472 million, as raw materials costs squeezed margins. The company cautioned that reduced volumes and higher costs will also hurt
the fourth quarter. Shares of Irving-based Exxon Mobil rose 56 cents, or 1 percent, to $56.76 in
early trading on the New York Stock Exchange. The stock has traded in a 52-week
range between $48.25 and $65.96.
