ExxonMobil profits beat forecasts as higher output offsets falling prices

(Sharecast News) - Energy major ExxonMobil beat forecasts with its third-quarter profits on Friday after output across its Guyana and Permian Basin operations hit new records.

Net profits were 12% lower than last year at $7.55bn, partially due to lower oil price than the comparative period, but adjusted earnings per share came in at $1.88 per share, comfortably ahead of the $1.82 expected by analysts.

Chief executive Darren Woods said the company achieved its highest quarterly EPS result over the past 10 years in a similar oil-price environment, when historical Brent crude averaged between $65 and $75 a barrel.

Group revenues totalled $85.3bn over the three months to 30 September, down from $90.0bn the year before, as a result of a 16% slump in oil prices so far this year amid fears of oversupply and macroeconomic conditions dampening growth. Analysts, however, expected a top-line result closer to $87.7bn.

Woods said the company was operating "in a league of our own", with eight of the 10 key projects for 2025 having been started and the remaining two on track.

Production totalled 4.77m barrels of oil equivalents per day during the quarter, up from 4.63m in the second quarter, driven by record output in Guyana and the Permian Basin.

"In Guyana, we broke records with quarterly production surpassing 700,000 barrels per day, and started up the Yellowtail development four months early and under budget," Woods said.

"In the Permian, we also set another production record of nearly 1.7 million oil-equivalent barrels per day, while continuing to expand the use of proprietary technologies like our lightweight proppant that improves well recoveries by up to 20%."

Shares were down 0.8% at $113.73 in early deals in new York.