Boston, MA 11/05/2013 (wallstreetpr) – Integrated oil major Exxon Mobil Corporation (NYSE:XOM) has reported a 18% drop in 3Q2013 mainly because of lower downstream earnings. The company attributed the decline to lower refining margins resulting from an increase in global industry capacity.
Earnings were down to $7.87 billion this year compared to $9.57 billion for the same period last year. This meant earnings per share too were down to $1.79 as against $2.09 in the previous year, the company said in a press release on Thursday, October 31, 2013.
The company, however, reported a 2.4% increase in revenue to $112.37 billion as also a 1.5% rise in its oil-equivalent production for the first time in two years. The increase in production cheered markets and the company’s shares rallied modestly on Friday after the third quarter results were announced.
A fall in refining margins led to a $2.4 billion decline in its marketing and refining earnings, which shrunk overall 81% to $592 million. Profit from upstream operations, however, at $6,713 million in 3Q2013 rose by $740 million compared to the same period last year. While better realizations from liquids and natural gas contributed $440 million increase in profit out of $740 million, $280 million earnings increase came from better tax and foreign exchange factors and $20 million higher profit came from hike in production and other mixed effects.
Operating profit in production and exploration, however, rose by 12% to $6.71 billion.
During the quarter, the company cut the number of outstanding shares through a $3 billion buy back of 34 million shares.
The company’s chairman and CEO Rex Tillerson said in the release that the company’s expenditure plan on capital and exploration spending was as anticipated with $10.5 billion being spent on this head in 3Q2013 and a total of $32.6 billion in the first three quarters of this financial year.
