By STEVE QUINN, AP Business Writer
DALLAS - Exxon Mobil Corp. said Thursday it earned $10.36 billion in the April-June period, the second largest quarterly profit ever recorded by a publicly traded U.S. company.
The earnings figure was 36 percent above the profit it reported a year ago. High oil prices and the growing global appetite for fuel helped boost the company's revenue by 12 percent to a level just short of a quarterly record. Its shares briefly rose to a new high.
"We continue to see demand growth year over year," Henry Hubble, Exxon's vice president of investor relations told analysts. "We're selling everything we can make."
And as long as oil prices continue to climb, look for more record quarters, said Fadel Gheit, analyst for Oppenheimer & Co.
"The rising tide lifts all boats, including the biggest of them all. Unless there is a price collapse of oil, you will see the second half of the year best its first half," Gheit said.
Exxon Mobil's report comes as many drivers in the U.S. are paying $3 for a gallon of gas — increasing the likelihood of further political backlash in Washington.
But the company isn't alone. Royal Dutch Shell PLC said Thursday that second-quarter earnings jumped 40 percent to $7.32 billion as high oil prices offset production difficulties in Nigeria and the Gulf of Mexico.
Other oil companies reported big numbers for the quarter this week as well. BP PLC reported its quarterly profit rose 30 percent to $7.3 billion and ConocoPhillips said its earnings rose 65 percent to $5.18 billion. Chevron Corp. will round the field of five majors when it reports its second-quarter performance Friday.
These five were expected to earn an estimated $33.6 billion, or a 32 percent boost, according to analysts surveyed by Thomson Financial. Already the first four have reported earning $30.16 billion.
Exxon Mobil, the world's largest oil company by market capitalization, said earnings amounted to $1.72 per share in the second quarter compared with a profit of $7.64 billion, or $1.20 per share, a year ago.
The results topped Wall Street expectations but came in behind Exxon Mobil's record profit of $10.71 billion set in the fourth quarter of 2005.
Analysts polled by Thomson Financial expected the company to earn $1.64 per share.
Revenue rose to $99.03 billion from $88.57 billion in the prior-year quarter. That was short of Exxon Mobil's record third-quarter revenue of $100.72 billion — which also stands as record revenue generated by any U.S. public company ever in a single quarter.
Its shares rose 54 cents to $67.14 in afternoon trading on the
New York Stock Exchange after reaching a new all-time high of $67.65 earlier in the session.
Exxon Mobil said it spent $4.9 billion on capital and exploration projects during the quarter, up 8 percent from a year ago, while distributing $7.9 billion to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. Congress has been urging the big oil companies to put more of their profits toward boosting the supply of energy for consumers.
Hubble told analysts that Exxon will boost this kind of spending from the previously stated $19 billion by another $1 billion this year. He attributed the additional investment to increased drilling moreso that rising costs.
He offered no guidance for 2007 or years thereafter, however.
The company made more in all parts of its business.
By segment, exploration and production earnings rose sharply to $7.13 billion, up $2.23 billion from the second quarter of last year, a reflection of higher crude and natural gas prices. Production increased 6 percent from a year ago and 9 percent if the impact of divestments and entitlements are excluded.
The company's refining and marketing segment reported a $264 million earnings increase to $2.48 billion, the result of soaring fuel prices, which offset reduced output at its refineries and, as a result, fewer gallons of gasoline, heating oil and jet fuel being sold.
Exxon's chemical business saw earnings rise $26 million to $840 million.
The company said its average sale price for crude oil in the U.S. during the quarter was $63.84 a barrel, compared to $45.85 a year earlier. Internationally, however, Exxon said the average sale price for oil was $65.12 compared to $47.55 a year ago.
Exxon also sold natural gas in the U.S. for $6.39 per 1,000 cubic feet, compared to $6.45 during the same period a year ago. Non-U.S. sales for natural gas however, rose from $5.25 a year ago to $6.67 per 1,000 cubic feet.
