Imperial Oil Posts Weaker-Than-Expected Results

Imperial Oil Ltd.'s (IMO.T, IMO) earnings fell significantly in the third quarter as production slowed.

The Calgary-based oil producer reported quarterly earnings of C$371 million, or 44 Canadian cents a share, down from C$1 billion, or C$1.18 a share, a year earlier, when results got a one-time boost from the sale of the company's retail assets.

Revenue fell 3.8% to C$7.16 billion.

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters had forecast earnings of 96 Canadian cents a share on C$7.85 billion in sales.

A fire at the Syncrude Mildred Lake upgrader during the quarter and the closure of one of the company's wells due to a precautionary pipeline closure pushed daily production down to 390,000 gross oil-equivalent barrels from 393,000 a year earlier.

Improved performance at Kearl and Cold Lake were offset by the impact of the Syncrude Mildred Lake fire and the continued shutdown of Norman Wells due to the Enbridge Line 21 precautionary pipeline closure.

Imperial shares edged 0.2% lower to $30.96 during premarket trading. The stock has dropped 11% so far this year.

Write to Imani Moise at imani.moise@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

October 27, 2017 09:10 ET (13:10 GMT)