LITTLE ROCK — Murphy Oil Corp.’s profits doubled in the third quarter compared with its net income from the corresponding quarter in 2010, the El Dorado-based company said in its quarterly earnings report Wednesday.
Murphy’s net income in the quarter was $406.1 million, or $2.09 per share, compared with $202.8 million, or $1.05, a year earlier.
The company attributed the growth to higher prices for crude oil, stronger U.S. retail gasoline station profits and the sale of two of its refineries.
In September and October, Murphy sold a refinery in Superior, Wis., for $214 million and another in Meraux, La., for $325 million, and reported an after-tax net gain of $16.9 million.
Excluding these operations, income from continuing operations was $335.7 million, or $1.73 per share. Revenue climbed 39 percent, to $7.24 billion from $5.2 billion.
Barry Jeffery, a spokesman for Murphy, said in a telephone interview that revenue from the third quarter of 2010 was adjusted downward to $5.2 billion from $6.06 billion because Murphy sold the U.S. refineries.
“Because the refineries are sold, those have to be moved to discontinued operations,” Jeffery said. “So to be able to compare apples and apples, you have to compare this quarter to last quarter, you have to pull that out. .... So that’s why that $6.06 billion last year falls down to $5.2 billion this year.”
However, the company missed the $7.53 billion forecast by analysts.
Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters projected earnings of $1.18 per share. The estimates didn’t take into account the sale of the two refineries.
“Murphy’s partnership with Wal-Mart to provide customers a deep discount gasoline offer [at Murphy USA stations] continues through Christmas Eve and is being well received,” David Wood, president and chief executive officer, said in a news release. “We are pleased to have completed the sale of the two U.S. refineries at the end of the third quarter as this was an important step in our repositioning efforts.”
The company is attempting to sell its refinery in Milford Haven, Wales, next year, he added.
Murphy’s third-quarter income from its exploration and production operations was $261.9 million, compared with$187 million a year earlier. The increase is attributable to high prices for crude oil.
Its exploration expenses also jumped from $62 million to $85.7 million, partially because of activity in the Kurdistan region of Iraq and adding two rigs in the Eagle Ford Shale formation in south Texas.
Shares closed Wednesday at $55.63. In after-hours trading, shares were down to $55.20. The report came after the close of the New York Stock Exchange.
Its forecast for fourth-quarter earnings is $1.35 to $1.70 a share, Murphy said. That is above the $1.25 expected by analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, Dow Jones News wires said.
Exxon Mobil, the largest oil company in the world, last week said its third-quarter net income was $10.33 billion, or $2.13 a share, up from $7.35 billion, or $1.44 a share, from a a year earlier.
Business, Pages 25 on 11/03/2011