Murphy Oil, Acxiom report revenue gains

Arkansas-based companies in the information and energy business posted positive earnings reports Wednesday.

El Dorado-based Murphy Oil Corp.’s fourth quarter profits fell short of Wall Street expectations, but rising oil prices and increased oil production lifted the company’s quarterly and yearly sales into double digits.

Acxiom Corp. reported that third quarter profits and revenue were on the uptick as major customers of the Little Rock-based data marketer increased their spending.

MURPHY OIL
For the period ended Dec. 31, the El Dorado oil firm reported net income of $174.1 million, or 90 cents per share, compared to net income of $318.8 million, or $1.65 per share a year ago. However, fourth quarter revenues were $6.5 billion, up 11.7% from $5.82 billion in the same period of 2009.

Analysts, on average, expected the Arkansas oil company to report fourth quarter profits of $1 on revenue of $5.62 billion, according to Thomson Reuters.

For the full year, Murphy reported net income totaled $798.1 million, or $4.13 per diluted share, compared to net income of $837.6 million, or $4.35 per diluted share in 2009. Yearly revenue rose a whopping 22.6% to $23.3 billion versus $19 billion a year ago.

“We will look back on 2010 as a productive year for the Company,” said David Wood, Murphy CEO and president. “Our oil-weighted production portfolio benefited from higher than anticipated oil prices during the year.”

Overall, Murphy’s fourth quarter income from exploration and production operations was $154.1 million, well short of $339.1 million in the same quarter of 2009. Lower earnings in 2010 were primarily attributable to the previously mentioned benefit for recovery of federal royalties in 2009, plus higher exploration expenses in the 2010 fourth quarter.

The company’s refining and marketing operations had income of $44.4 million in the fourth quarter, compared to a loss of $4.1 million in the 2009. The favorable variance in results was primarily attributable to stronger U.S. refining margins and higher profits on resale of merchandise in retail marketing operations.

Worldwide crude oil, condensate and gas liquids sales prices averaged $73.60 per barrel for the 2010 fourth quarter compared to $67.59 per barrel in the 2009 quarter. North American natural gas sales prices averaged $3.95 per thousand cubic feet (MCF) in the 2010 fourth quarter compared to $4.17 per MCF in the 2009 quarter.

The company’s crude oil, condensate and gas liquids production averaged 117,084 barrels per day in the fourth quarter of 2010 compared to 138,269 barrels per day in 2009. The decline in crude oil production in 2010 was primarily attributable to lower volumes produced at Murphy’s deepwater drilling program in Malaysia, where downtime occurred for well maintenance and weather delays.

At the close of business Wednesday, Murphy’s shares (NYSE: MUR) were up 3.08%, or $2.19, at $73.23. However, in after hours trading, Murphy’s shares were headed downward following the company’s earnings release after the close of market.

In 2011, Murphy shares have hit a headwind after reaching a 52-week high of $76.74 on Jan. 4. The company’s stock began losing ground on Jan. 6, following a company announcement that the oil giant’s ambitious drilling campaign in the Republic of Congo has come up dry.

All three wells were operated by Murphy West Africa Ltd. at a 58.82% working interest and were plugged and abandoned. The total net cost of the program was estimated at $36 million, and Murphy officials said then that the charge would be expensed in the fourth quarter.

ACXIOM
For the period ended Dec. 31, Acxiom reported net income of $20.8 million, up nearly 46 percent from one year ago when the company netted $14.3 million. Revenue jumped 5.4 percent for the quarter to $299.1 million, compared to $283.8 million a year ago.

"We are pleased that Acxiom delivered another solid performance in the third quarter of fiscal 2011. This represents our third consecutive quarter of year-over-year revenue and operating income growth," said John Meyer, Acxiom’s CEO. "This quarter’s performance was driven by the continued execution against our strategy and was aided by the general improvement in client spending in our core markets.”

During the quarter, Acxiom said it recorded adjustments to earnings due to restructuring and legal accruals totaling $3.6 million. Also, the company reduced a reserve for unrecognized tax benefits by approximately $3.5 million due to the expiration of the related statute of limitations. Both those items increased earnings per share for shareholders by 6 cents.

Ahead of Wednesday’s opening bell, Acxiom shares (NASDAQ: ACXM) were trading at $17.62. The Little Rock data marketer is well of its 52-week high of $19.99 in late April of last year, but the company’s shares are up more than 25 percent for the year.