by Sabrina Valle and Shariq Khan
(Reuters) – Exxon Mobil doubled its earnings per share in the first quarter, the oil giant said on Friday, but its results fell short of Wall Street estimates, even excluding a $3.4 billion writedown related to its withdrawal from Russia.
The top US oil producer has tripled its share buyback program and is now targeting up to $30 billion in shares by the end of next year.
Exxon reported net income of $5.48 billion (5.20 billion euros), or $1.28 per share, in the three months ended March 31, compared with $2.73 billion, or 64 cents per share, last year.
The company’s adjusted earnings per share came in at $2.07, below Refinitiv’s consensus of $2.12 per share, and revenue was $90.5 billion. dollars, below the $92.7 billion estimated by analysts.
Exxon suffered an after-tax loss of $3.4 billion on Operation Sakhalin-1 in Russia, which it announced would be exited on March 1, shortly after Moscow invaded Ukraine on February 24.
The company’s refining division posted much weaker results than in the previous quarter, with profit of $332 million, compared with $1.5 billion in the fourth quarter. The group said the sharp price hike ended up costing $1.3 billion in “negative timing impacts.”
Its production of crude oil and other liquids, including bitumen and synthetic oil, was 2.3 million barrels per day, down 5% from the previous quarter and natural gas production was decreased by 1.5%.
(Reporting Sabrina Valle and Shariq Khan; French version Federica Mileo; editing by Kate Entringer)
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