Exxon Mobil 2Q Profit Falls a Surprising 66 Percent

FILE - In this May 1, 2008, file photo, a customer pumps gas at an Exxon station in Middleton, Mass. Exxon Mobil said Thursday, July 30, 2009, its second-quarter profit fell a surprising 66 percent from a year ago as the world's biggest publicly traded oil company, like the rest of the industry, saw crude and gas prices fall sharply and refining margins tighten. (AP Photo/Lisa Poole, file) (Lisa Poole - AP)

By JOHN PORRETTO

The Associated Press
Thursday, July 30, 2009; 11:06 AM

-- Exxon Mobil Corp. on Thursday reported its lowest profit in nearly six years, a 66 percent plunge from the second quarter a year ago as the world's biggest publicly traded oil company confronted sharply lower crude and gas prices and anemic demand for refined products.

For the king of corporate profit records, it marked the third straight quarter for lower year-over-year earnings, providing a clear picture of how demand for oil and gasoline has evaporated.

Exxon Mobil, based in Irving, Texas, said earnings for the April-June period came to $3.95 billion, or 81 cents a share. That was down from $11.68 billion, or $2.22 a share, a year ago, a record at the time.

Excluding one-time items, net income in the most-recent quarter amounted to $4.09 billion, or 84 cents a share.

The latest result missed the average Wall Street profit forecast by a wide margin. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters were looking for net income of $1.02 cents a share. Those estimates typically exclude one-time items.

Revenue fell 46 percent to $74.5 billion from $138.1 billion a year ago. Analysts, on average, had forecast revenue of about $71.3 billion, Thomson Reuters said.

The substantial profit falloff was no surprise given the steep drop in oil and natural gas prices from a year ago. Major integrated oil companies ConocoPhillips, BP and Royal Dutch Shell already have reported profit declines ranging from 53 percent to 76 percent for the second quarter.

Yet the size of Exxon's decline is sure to catch investors off guard. It marked the company's lowest quarterly showing since it earned $3.65 billion in the third quarter of 2003.

Company shares fell 88 cents to $70.55.

This time last year crude was in the triple digits after a historic ride to almost $150 a barrel. Prices eventually dipped into the $30s in January but have doubled in recent months amid some signs of recovery from the worst recession in a generation.

Still, the amount of unused oil held in storage right now is enormous.

The government reported Wednesday that another 5 million barrels of oil was added to U.S. stockpiles last week. That's nearly 18 percent greater than the amount of crude in storage at this time last year.

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