Friday 29 October 2021
Exxon and Chevron with profits
Giants are making money again from their thirst for oil
The economy around the globe is picking up again and needs to be lubricated. For “Big Oil” this means a return to bubbling profits. In the case of ExxonMobile, shareholders should also benefit from this.
After heavy losses in the Corona crisis, the largest US oil companies ExxonMobil and Chevron earned better than in years. While market leader Exxon still had to support the capital base with large loans during the pandemic, it has now announced that it will invest billions in buying back its own shares in the coming years.
In the three months to the end of September, Exxon posted a bottom line profit of 6.8 billion dollars (5.8 billion euros), as the company announced in Texas. The group thus achieved its best quarterly result in around seven years.
Exxon also announced that it has already paid off half of the debt it had taken out to cope with the Corona crisis. In the same period last year, when the pandemic slowed the global economy and dampened oil demand, Exxon suffered a loss of $ 680 million. Since then, oil prices have risen sharply and business is now back to normal. Sales increased year-on-year by almost 60 percent to $ 73.8 billion.
The annual report clearly exceeded the analysts’ expectations. Exxon also announced that it would put up to $ 10 billion in a 12- to 24-month share buyback program starting in 2022. This caused price premiums on the US stock exchange at the start of trading. Wall Street has been going well for Exxon for some time – the stock has risen 100 percent in the past twelve months.
The second largest US oil multinational, Chevron, reported that it earned 6.1 billion dollars (5.2 billion euros) in the quarter up to the end of September. The Exxon rival achieved the highest quarterly profit since the beginning of 2013. A year ago, the balance sheet had shown a loss of 207 million dollars. Chevron increased sales by more than 80 percent to $ 44.7 billion.
Chevron boss Mike Wirth emphasized that savings also contributed to the strongest results since the first quarter of 2013. Investments this year were 22 percent lower than before the pandemic. Experts had expected significantly weaker numbers. Chevron’s stock reacted with significant price gains.