ExxonMobil (NYSE: XOM) posted higher-than-expected earnings for the fourth quarter, while its full-year profit was the second-highest in a decade, as the U.S. supermajor boosted its Guyana and Permian production and achieved record annual refinery throughput.
Exxon reported on Friday fourth-quarter 2023 earnings of $7.6 billion, or $1.91 per share assuming dilution.
As previously flagged, the U.S. supermajor’s Q4 earnings were impacted unfavorably by identified items of $2.3 billion, including a $2.0 billion impairment as a result of regulatory obstacles in California that have prevented production and distribution assets from coming back online.
So, Exxon’s Q4 earnings excluding identified items came in at $10.0 billion, or $2.48 per share assuming dilution. That’s $0.28 per share higher than the analyst consensus of $2.20 per share.
For the full year 2023, the company reported earnings of $36.0 billion—the second-highest annual profit in a decade. Exxon’s highest annual earnings ever, and the highest earnings tally for any Western oil supermajor ever, were the $55.7 billion earnings for 2022, which were driven by the surge in oil and gas prices following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Exxon’s profits for the fourth quarter of 2023 and for full year 2023 were handsome, too, although lower than in 2022 because of the decline in oil and gas prices last year.
Still, Exxon beat analyst estimates and its stock rose by 1.5% in pre-market trade in New York on Friday after the results were released ahead of market opening.
Exxon also said it generated $55.4 billion of cash flow from operating activities and distributed a record $32.4 billion to shareholders in 2023.
“Our consistent strategy and execution excellence across the business delivered industry-leading earnings and enabled us to return more cash to shareholders than our peers in 2023,” Exxon’s chairman and chief executive officer Darren Woods said.
Exxon joins Shell in posting stronger Q4 and 2023 earnings than analysts expected as Big Oil began reporting results this week. Shell raised on Thursday its quarterly dividend and announced a new share buyback after beating consensus estimates for the fourth quarter and full year.
By Tsvetana Paraskova for Oilprice.com
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