08:47 AM EDT, 04/26/2024 (MT Newswires) -- Exxon Mobil's ( XOM ) first-quarter earnings declined annually and missed market estimates, impacted by lower oil refining margins and natural gas prices.

The oil giant on Friday posted adjusted earnings of $2.06 per share in the March quarter, dropping from $2.83 the year before and trailing the Capital IQ-polled consensus of $2.18. Industry refining margins and natural gas prices decreased from last year's highs, while timing effects from unsettled derivative mark-to-market impacts, other main non-cash impacts and divestments weighed on the bottom line.

Exxon's shares were down 1.8% in recent premarket activity.

Total revenue and other income fell to $83.08 billion from $86.56 billion, topping the Street's view for $81.51 billion. "We delivered a strong quarter with continued growth in advantaged assets," Chief Executive Darren Woods said in a statement. "In Product Solutions, our strong turnaround performance on cost and schedule helped drive record first-quarter refining throughput."

Upstream segment earnings declined to $5.66 billion from $6.46 billion, driven by a 32% decrease in natural gas realizations, partially offset by a 4% increase in liquid realizations. Production decreased to 3.78 million oil-equivalent barrels a day from 3.83 million barrels on a yearly basis, missing the nearly 3.8 million-barrel estimate modeled by analysts.

Earnings in the energy product operations segment slumped to $1.38 billion from $4.18 billion, pulled down by the weaker industry refining margins, the company said. Chemical products advanced to $785 million from $371 million, while specialty products slid to $761 million from $774 million in the 2023 quarter.

Total costs and other deductions widened to $70.71 billion from $69.76 billion year-on-year. The company said it saved $10.1 billion in structural costs versus the 2019 financial year, with an additional $400 million during the first quarter. It aims to generate $15 billion in savings through the end of 2027.

Capital and exploration expenditures came in at $5.84 billion versus $6.38 billion a year ago, consistent with the company's full-year guidance of $23 billion to $25 billion, Exxon said. "Looking ahead, we're making great progress on our plans to grow the earnings power of our existing businesses from investments in advantaged assets and higher-value products, and further reduce structural costs," according to Woods.

Price: 119.12, Change: -2.21, Percent Change: -1.82