Imperial Oil’s Q4 profit dips from year-before but beats analyst estimates

CALGARY – Imperial Oil Ltd. (TSX:IMO) earned $1.056 billion in the fourth quarter, down slightly from a year earlier, but ahead of analyst estimates.

The profit amounted to $1.24 per share, down two cents per share from a year ago when Imperial earned $1.076 billion or $1.26 per share.

Analysts on average had been looking for oil and gas producer to report 92 cents per share of adjusted earnings and 89 cents per share under standard accounting, according to estimates compiled by Thomson Reuters.

Imperial’s total revenue and other income rose to $8.3 billion in the three months ended Dec. 31, up from $7.8 billion in the fourth quarter of 2012.

The company produced the equivalent of 320,000 barrels of oil per day during the fourth quarter, up from 285,000 barrels per day on average a year earlier.

Imperial says the increased production was mostly due to its Kearl oilsands project and the acquisition of a 50 per cent stake in Celtic Exploration Ltd.