Murphy Oil released the company's preliminary quarterly earnings on Wednesday afternoon in a release, giving the public a look at their third quarter numbers.
In all, the El Dorado-based oil company's income was $228.9 million ($1.17 per diluted share), which is down from the $347.3 million ($1.79 per diluted share) at the end of the third quarter in 2011. The overall net income finished at $226.7 million, compared to $406.1 million this quarter last year.
The company stated in the release that "earnings in the 2012 quarter were below prior year levels primarily due to the effects of lower North American natural gas sales prices, weaker U.S. retail marketing margins, an income tax benefit in the 2011 quarter and an unfavorable variance for foreign exchange."
Also during the third quarter, the company's board of directors agreed to sell Murphy's exploration and production operations in the United Kingdom. The sale is expected to be completed by the end of the year, the release states. As a result, the losses from the discontinued services was $2.2 million after a $58.8 million income at this quarter in 2011.
For more information about Murphy's third-quarter earnings, investors can participate in a conference call at noon Thursday by calling 1 (800) 515-2880 — the telephone reservation number for the call is 1084159 — or visiting the investor relations section at www.murphyoilcorp.com/ir.