Calgary-based Imperial Oil reports $853M Q4 profit, boosted by downstream operations

Imperial Oil Ltd. reported a profit of $853 million in the fourth quarter compared with a loss of $137 million in the same quarter a year earlier.

Imperial says the profit amounted to $1.08 per diluted share for the last three months of 2018 compared with a loss of 16 cents per diluted share in the fourth quarter of 2017, which included $566 million of upstream asset impairments.

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Revenue and other income for the quarter totalled $7.89 billion, down from $8.08 billion in the last three months of 2017.

Imperial says its upstream operations lost $310 million in the fourth quarter, compared to a loss of $481 million in the same period of 2017.

Meanwhile, the company’s downstream operations earned $1.14 billion in the quarter, up from $290 million in the fourth quarter of 2017, boosted by stronger margins the absence of turnaround activities in the quarter.

For the full year, Imperial says it earned $2.31 billion or $2.86 per diluted share in 2018, up from $490 million or 58 cents per share in 2017.