Occidental Reports Sharply Lower Earnings

Occidental Petroleum Corp. on Monday reported a second-quarter net income of $186 million, or 51 cents a share, up from $158 million, or 41 cents, for the second quarter of 1997.

However, earnings before special items were $47 million for the latest quarter, well below the $138 million for the same period in 1997, a shortfall the Los Angeles-based company attributed to low oil and basic chemical prices.

Sales were $1.54 billion for the ’98 second quarter, down from $2.2 billion for the like period of 1997.

The oil and chemical company’s results matched the average estimate of analysts polled by First Call Corp.

The results for the eighth-largest U.S. oil producer are expected to be among the worst of major oil companies to be reporting second-quarter earnings this week, because Occidental gets relatively little of its revenue from refining, a business less sensitive to changes in crude prices.

“This is a company that’s highly leveraged to crude oil prices, especially after their restructuring,” said Steve Enger, a Petrie Parkman & Co. analyst.

Occidental’s fortunes became tied even more closely to oil prices this year when it agreed to sell its MidCon natural-gas pipeline unit, for $3.1 billion, and bought an Elk Hills oil field near Bakersfield, for $3.5 billion.

Occidental will have a hard time showing earnings improvement as long as oil and basic chemical prices remain low. Crude oil on the New York Mercantile Exchange averaged $14.67 a barrel in the second quarter, 26% lower than a year earlier. Oil prices closed at $13.34 a barrel on Monday.

Occidental reported that its second-quarter sales fell 28% to $1.54 billion from $2.16 billion for the ’97 second quarter. Oil and natural gas operating profit, not including a gain, fell 35% to $90 million from $139 million.

Occidental stock fell 31 cents to close at $25.19 on the New York Stock Exchange.

Enger said he expects third-quarter earnings will be less than the 55 cents a share earned for last year’s third quarter, but that fourth-quarter profit may exceed the 29 cents of a year ago if oil prices improve.

The company’s chemicals segment earned $90 million, not including a charge. That’s down 52% from $189 million for the year-earlier quarter. Lower chemical prices and weak Asian demand were cited as the causes.

Including a net gain of $139 million, or 36 cents a share, from the sale of U.S. oil and gas assets and the cost of cutting jobs at its Equistar chemical partnership, Occidental had net income of $186 million, or 49 cents a share.

(BEGIN TEXT OF INFOBOX / INFOGRAPHIC)

Oxy Results

Occidental Petroleum Corp.’s quarterly revenue and earnings:

Revenue

In billions of dollars:

2nd quarter: $1.54 billion

Earnings

In millions of dollars:

2nd quarter: $186 million

Source: Company reports