Exxon's Record $9.32 Billion Q1 Income Taxes: Update

This from CNN Money:

Record oil prices netted Exxon Mobil $10.89 billion in the first quarter, sharply higher than a year earlier but short of Wall Street expectations and below what was needed to set a new all-time profit record.

The sheer size of the Exxon profit reported Thursday will still likely attract attention from consumer groups and lawmakers, who have been arguing for higher taxes on oil companies amid soaring gas and oil prices.

The company posted first-quarter net income of $10.89 billion, or $2.03 a share. That's up 17% from the $9.28 billion, or $1.62 a share it earned a year earlier, but it missed analysts' consensus forecast of $2.14.

Revenue hit $116.85 billion, up 34% from a year earlier when sales hit $87.2 billion. The profit was still enough to be the second highest U.S. corporate profit on record, falling just short of the record $11.66 billion Exxon Mobil earned in the fourth quarter. The profit came to $1,385 a second, enough to buy nearly 382 gallons of gas at current prices.

UPDATE:
Actually, income taxes of $9.3B are only about 1/3 of Exxon's total tax liability of $29.3B for the first quarter of 2008, according to this press release (see chart above). Further, Exxon paid close to $3 in taxes ($2.69) for each $1 it earned in profits.

Prediction: In every single media story today about Exxon, the one key income statement variable that will receive ABSOLUTELY NO ATTENTION is the amount of income taxes paid by Exxon, which was $9.32 billion in the first quarter, according to Exxon.

Following CNN's analysis, Exxon paid $1,185 in income taxes every second this quarter, enough to buy 327 gallons of gas.

Bottom Line: Although Exxon's profits in the first quarter didn't set a record, its quarterly income taxes paid of $9.32 billion did set an all-time record. I predict this will go largely unreported.

Comments

[704RE:]

Dear Hillary:
Before you pander to your uneducated voter base by speaking in terms of "taking" oil company profits, please pay the Treasury $90,000,000 - taxes already paid on Bill's speech making profits. Unless that doesn't sound fair?

2008 May 01 11:17 AM

[Wang:]

This is about a $1 billion increase in taxes compared to a $4 billion increase in income after all deductions & compared to a $30 billion increase in total revenue and income. Just because the income tax number is a big number doesn't make it that compelling, it's still just a percentage of income, they just happen to have a lot of income. who cares?

2008 May 01 11:25 AM

[tntgators:]

The stat that everyone is missing is the total monies paid to governments. In 2006 XOM had profits of 36B but paid 93B to governments. These are royalties, income taxes, property taxes.....you name the taxes. The hypocrites on Capitol Hill want lower gas prices but they make three times as much as XOM for doing nothing. XOM does all the heavy lifting and the lawmakers do nothing and get three times as much money and then blame XOM for high prices. If they cared about my pocket book they would lower taxes not raise them.

2008 May 01 11:38 AM

[buyitcheap:]

These are relatively small profit margins. One should note that the federal and state governments that tack on their percentage "profited" the most from every gallon of gas sold. All the way along the value chain. Without a modicum of risk.

2008 May 01 12:01 PM

[User 186589:]

These are not income taxes paid to the government, they are excise taxes that are passed through from the consumer at the pump. These are real taxes (gasoline taxes) but are not taxes on income. From an economic persective, these are simply pass through items that the consumer pays, and Exxon is the tax collector.

2008 May 01 12:09 PM

[Wang:]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if I was Exxon and was paying more in total taxes than I was bringing in, I would be out of business. See comment above, you guys are talking about excise taxes and not income taxes.

2008 May 01 09:33 PM

[drmalaka:]

Mildly Distured, I think you are more than mildly disturbed and deranges. How is Bush responsible for oil prices. Is it his fault that China and India and the Middle East have increased their demand for oil tremendously? Is it Bush's fault that we don't drill in ANWAR? Is it Bush's fault that Russia and Mexico are producing less oil? Is it Bush's fault that we are not firmer with tyrant thugs in Iran and Venzuela?

The only thing you can be sure of in your deranged mind is that Bush was absolutely responsible for Hurricane Katrina.

Yes Bush is to blame for a screwed up economy that was brought about by low interest rates and a real estate bubble created by greedy Wall Street bankers in NYC where the Democratic party raises half their money.

You were probably one of those simple minded people who said Iraq was a war for their oil. That was a smart proposition, so are you saying this was a war so that we could double the price of oil. Sort of flies in the face of your theory. Then again those same idiots were telling us we needed 10,000 body bags for the invasion and are now crying that five years later 4,000 have died.

The problem with people like you is that you just say whatever comes to your heart, becuase clearly your mind does not work very well, and then you never have to account for the fact that you are always wrong. You just move to your next gratuitous jab at the President and forget your horrible track record.

2008 May 02 12:45 PM

[ElGuineu:]

Dr. Perry writes, "Record oil prices netted Exxon Mobil $10.89 billion in the first quarter,,," but then goes on to say that they paid $9.32B in taxes, leaving the impression they [only] earned (10.89-9.32=) $1.57B for the quarter. However, if the 10.89 is "net" income, as he states, then the taxes have already been deducted. Correct? It looks to me like Exxon's tax rate was approx (9.32/(10.89+9.32) or about 46%, which is normal for a corporation, is it not? I have 3 more questions: 1) How many gallons of gasoline did Exxon sell in the quarter, and 2) Dividing this number into their $10.89B profit, how many cents per gallon does this amount to?, and 3) How does it compare to the 18.4 cents/gal McCain wants the federal government to give up for the summer? Remember, this would be a 100% loss of this revenue source, at a time when the Federal government is already spending more than it takes in.

2008 May 02 04:41 PM