Thursday October 30, 2008
Navivest

Exxon Mobil (XOM), the world’s largest company by market capitalization, today reported that its Q3 2008 earnings excluding special items were a record $13.38 billion, up 42% from the same period last year.

The company reported revenues of $137.73 billion for the quarter, compared to revenues of $102.33 billion in the year ago period.

Net income was $14.83 billion, up 58% from Q3 2007. This translated into earnings per share of $2.89, up 52%, as opposed to the $9.41 billion in net income and $1.72 EPS in the third quarter of last year. On a diluted basis, EPS for Q3 2008 was $2.86 and $1.70 in Q3 2007.

According to the company, “Net income included an after-tax special gain of $1,620 million from the sale of a natural gas transportation business in Germany and an after-tax special charge of $170 million reflecting a provision for interest related to the Valdez punitive damages award.”

The company reported distributing a total of $10.1 billion in the third quarter to shareholders, by paying $2.1 billion in dividend payments and share purchases of $8.0 billion, which reduced the company’s shares outstanding by 2%.

Cash flow from operations was approximately $17.0 billion. This included asset sales of $2.6 billion.
Average number of shares outstanding on September 30th, was 5.16 billion.

Exxon Mobil’s (XOM) profit shattered its own previous record, once again earning the company the distinction of the company with the largest quarterly profit on a dollar for dollar basis.

However while much is made of the company’s profits, with some detractors trying to suggest that it is proof oil companies are gouging consumers, Exxon Mobil’s (XOM) profit margin is only 10%. For comparison purposes, Google on the other hand, has a profit margin of 24.4%.

Tags: Exxon Mobil  Exxon Profits