HOUSTON, (Reuters) – Exxon Mobil Corp, the world’s largest publicly traded oil company, yesterday reported a 38 percent drop in quarterly profit that still beat Wall Street’s expectations as cost cuts partly offset declining crude oil prices.
Shares of Exxon were down 1.9 percent at $85.30 in afternoon trading.
The company reported third-quarter net income of $2.65 billion, or 63 cents per share, compared with $4.24 billion, or $1.01 per share, a year earlier.
Analysts on average expected a profit of 58 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
Earnings fell in all of the company’s divisions, including the refining arm, which has generally bolstered profits when oil prices are low. Production fell about 3 percent to 3.8 million barrels of oil equivalent per day.
Exxon’s refineries processed about 2 percent less crude oil during the quarter than it did a year earlier.
