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Imperial Oil's nine-month earnings highest on record
| Toronto, ON, October 23, 2003
| Imperial Oil today announced third-quarter net earnings of
$375 million or $1.01 a share, compared with $347 million or $0.91 a share for the third quarter of 2002. The increased earnings resulted primarily from higher industry margins for petroleum products and higher prices for natural gas, and partly offset by lower prices for bitumen and higher exploration and planned maintenance expenses.
Net earnings for the first nine months of 2003 were $1,427 million or $3.81 a share, the highest nine-month earnings in the company’s history. They compared with earnings of $767 million or $2.02 a share for the first nine months of 2002. The increase was mainly due to higher prices for natural gas and crude oil and higher industry margins for petroleum products.
The negative impact of the higher Canadian dollar on resource and product prices was only partly offset by the favourable foreign exchange effects on the company's U.S.-dollar-denominated debt.
Total revenues were $4,626 million in the third quarter and
$14,614 million in the first nine months of 2003, versus $4,532 million and $12,212 million in the same periods of 2002.
Capital and exploration expenditures were $357 million in the third quarter and $1,093 million in the first nine months of 2003, compared with $391 million and $1,015 million in the corresponding periods of 2002.
During the third quarter of 2003 the company repurchased about 4 million shares for $207 million. In the first nine months of the year the company repurchased 11 million shares for $519 million.
The balance of cash and marketable securities was $852 million at September 30, 2003, compared with $453 million at the same time last year.
"A disciplined and sustained focus on operations reliability and excellence enabled Imperial to capture the benefits of favourable market conditions throughout the first three quarters of this year," explained Tim Hearn, chairman, president and chief executive officer. Hearn also said that the company's "strategic growth projects were progressing on schedule" and that "the organization had responded superbly to external events such as the Ontario power outage and the recent hurricane in Nova Scotia."
Imperial Oil is one of the largest producers of crude oil in Canada and a major producer of natural gas. The company is the largest refiner and marketer of petroleum products – sold primarily under the Esso brand name – and a major producer of petrochemicals.
Highlights
Management's discussion & analysis
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