CALGARY - Imperial Oil (TSX:IMO) is reporting first-quarter earnings that reversed a loss in the same period of last year but fell short of analyst expectations.
The Calgary-based oil producer and refiner says net income was $333 million or 39 cents per share in the three months ended March 31, boosted by a gain of $151 million on the sale of former refinery lands in Mississauga, Ont., compared with a loss of $101 million or 12 cents in the year-earlier period.
It says operating earnings per share were 21 cents, versus an RBC forecast of 50 cents.
The company says it will increase its quarterly dividend in June by a penny to 16 cents per share.
Total revenue was up 37 per cent to $7.16 billion for the company, which is 69.6 per cent owned by American oil giant Exxon Mobil.
Production averaged 378,000 barrels of oil equivalent per day, compared to 421,000 boe/d in the same period of 2016, due in part to a fire at the Syncrude Mildred Lake upgrader in mid-March which affected production. Imperial owns 25 per cent of Syncrude.
