Yahoo Finance Imperial (IMO) Q1 Earnings Rise Y/Y, Sales Lag Estimates
Imperial Oil Limited IMO reported first-quarter 2024 adjusted earnings per share of $1.65, higher than the year-ago quarter’s level of $1.58. This was largely due to higher contributions from the company's Upstream segment, driven by higher Bitumen prices and improved margins.
Revenues of $9.1 billion missed the Zacks Consensus Estimate of $11.6 billion. This underperformance was mainly caused by the weaker performance of IMO’s Chemical segment. But the top line increased from the year-ago quarter’s figure of $9 billion.
Imperial’s board of directors declared a quarterly dividend of 60 Canadian cents per share to its common shareholders of record as of Jun 3, 2024. The payout, in line with the previous quarter, will be made on Jul 1, 2024.
Imperial Oil Limited Price, Consensus and EPS Surprise
Imperial Oil Limited price-consensus-eps-surprise-chart | Imperial Oil Limited Quote
Segmental Information
Upstream: Revenues of C$4.2 billion increased from C$3.7 billion reported in the prior-year period. The figure missed our projection of C$4.6 billion.
The segment reported a net income of C$558 million compared with C$330 million in the year-ago quarter. The figure beat our estimate of C$544 million.
Production upstream averaged 421,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day, marking an increase from 413,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day from the year-ago quarter. In the Kearl asset, quarterly total gross production averaged 277,000 barrels per day, with 196,000 barrels representing Imperial's share. This marks the highest first-quarter production in the asset's history.
Net production volume came in at 362,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day (Boe/d) compared with 370,000 Boe/d in the year-ago quarter. Total oil and NGL output was 416,000 barrels per day (bpd) compared with 406,000 bpd in the first quarter of 2023.
Net oil and NGL output from Kearl and Cold Lake totaled 183,000 bpd and 108,000 bpd, respectively. Syncrude output averaged 61,000 bpd, which decreased from the year-ago quarter’s level of 70,000 bpd. Net natural gas production came in at 30 million cubic feet per day (Mcf/d), lower than 37 Mcf/d in the comparable quarter of 2023.
Bitumen price realizations totaled C$66.56 a barrel compared with C$50.33 in the year-ago period. IMO received an average realized price of C$93.51 per barrel for synthetic oil compared with the prior-year quarter’s C$102.45. For conventional crude oil, it received C$52.21 per barrel compared with C$65.02 in the year-ago quarter. The price of NGL decreased from C$3.05 to C$0.24 per thousand cubic feet year over year. IMO's average WTI prices increased to $76.86 per barrel from $75.98 in the year-ago period.
Downstream: Revenues of C$13.6 billion increased from C$13.5 billion in the prior-year quarter. The figure also missed our expectation of C$16.1 billion. Net income was C$631 million compared with C$870 million in the year-ago period and below our estimate of C$1.1 billion.
The refinery throughput in the first quarter averaged 407,000 bpd, lower than the prior-year level of 417,000 bpd. The capacity utilization was 94% compared with the year-ago level of 96%.
Chemical: Revenues of C$419 million declined from C$433 million in the first quarter of 2023. However, the figure beat our projection of C$330.6 million.
Segmental net income totaled C$57 million, up from the year-ago quarter’s level of C$53 million. The figure beat our prediction of C$31.5 million.
Total Costs & Capex
Total expenses of C$10.7 billion increased from the year-ago quarter’s C$10.5 billion. The figure also fell short of our projection of C$13.5 billion.
In the quarter under consideration, IMO’s capital and exploration expenditures totaled C$496 million, up from the year-ago quarter’s C$429 million.
Financial Performance
Cash flow from operating activities came in at C$1.1 billion compared with C$821 million in the year-ago quarter. Capital and exploration expenditures surged to C$496 million from C$429 million recorded in the first quarter of 2023.
IMO returned C$278 million to its shareholders through dividends in the reported quarter. As of Mar 31, Imperial Oil had cash and cash equivalents of C$2.24 billion. Total debt of the Zacks Rank #3 (Hold) company amounted to C$4.51 billion, with a debt-to-capitalization of 15%. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
Outlook
IMO already disclosed a capital spending budget of C$1.7 billion for 2024. Within its Upstream segment, production is anticipated in the range of 420,000-442,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels per day for the same year. Meanwhile, throughput in the Downstream segment is projected in the range of 385,000-400,000 barrels per day, accompanied by a capacity utilization rate of 89-92% throughout 2024.
Important Energy Earnings So Far
While it's early in the earnings season, there have been a few key energy releases thus far. Let’s glance through a couple of them.
SLB SLB, the largest oilfield contractor, announced first-quarter 2024 earnings of 75 cents per share (excluding charges and credits), which beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 74 cents. SLB’s bottom line also increased from the year-ago quarter’s earnings of 63 cents.
SLB’s strong quarterly earnings resulted from higher evaluation and stimulation activities in the international market. As of Mar 31, 2024, the company had approximately $3.5 billion in cash and short-term investments. It had a long-term debt of $10.7 billion at the end of the quarter.
Energy infrastructure provider Kinder Morgan KMI reported first-quarter adjusted earnings per share of 33 cents, a penny above the Zacks Consensus Estimate. The bottom line was favorably affected by increased financial contributions from the Natural Gas Pipelines, Products Pipelines and Terminals business segments. Moreover, KMI’s first-quarter discounted cash flow (DCF) was $1.42 billion, up from $1.40 billion a year ago.
As of Mar 31, 2024, Kinder Morgan reported $119 million in cash and cash equivalents. Its long-term debt amounted to $30.1 billion at the quarter-end. For full-year 2024, KMI anticipates a DCF of $5 billion ($2.26 per share) and an adjusted EBITDA of $8.16 billion, each indicating 8% growth from the previous year’s reported figures.
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