Chevron (CVX) Tops Q4 EPS Views

Chevron (NYSE: CVX) reported Q4 EPS of $1.85, $0.21 better than the analyst estimate of $1.64. Revenue for the quarter came in at $46.1 billion versus the consensus estimate of $30.65 billion.

“Our 2014 earnings were down from the previous year, largely due to the sharp decline in crude oil prices,” said Chairman and CEO John Watson. “Improved downstream results and higher gains on asset sales related to our divestment program partially offset the effect of lower crude prices.”

“In 2014, we continued to fund investments in key major capital projects under construction and raised the dividend payout on our common shares for the 27th consecutive year,” Watson added. “We enter 2015 with the financial strength to meet the challenges of a volatile crude price environment and with significant efforts underway to manage to a lower cost structure and capital spend rate.”

“We had a number of operational successes in 2014,” Watson continued. “We had first production from the Jack/St. Malo and Tubular Bells deepwater developments in the Gulf of Mexico and the Bibiyana gas expansion project in Bangladesh. In Australia, our Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects continue to reach important construction milestones. We also continue to make progress on our shale and tight resource developments in the Permian Basin, Argentina and Canada. At the same time, we had one of our best exploration years, with important discoveries in the deepwater Gulf of Mexico, Australia, West Africa and the Permian Basin, which add to our development queue for the future.”

Watson commented that the company added approximately 840 million barrels of net oil-equivalent proved reserves in 2014. These additions, which are subject to final reviews, equate to approximately 89 percent of net oil-equivalent production for the year. The largest additions were for the Permian Basin in the United States and the Gorgon Project in Australia. The company will provide additional details relating to 2014 reserve additions in its Annual Report on Form 10-K scheduled for filing with the SEC on February 20, 2015.

“In the downstream, we completed important reliability investments at our U.S. refineries, which contributed to improved financial and operational performance,” Watson added. “We also made significant progress on important growth investments.” In 2014, the company started commercial production at its new premium lubricants base oil facility in Pascagoula, Mississippi, and completed the expansion of its additives plants in Singapore and Gonfreville, France. Chevron Phillips Chemical Company LLC, the company’s 50 percent-owned affiliate, achieved start-up of the world’s largest on-purpose 1-hexene plant and progressed construction of its new ethane cracker and polyethylene units in Texas.

The company purchased $1.25 billion of its common stock in fourth quarter 2014 under its share repurchase program. Repurchases for the full year totaled $5 billion. At year-end, balances of cash, cash equivalents, time deposits and marketable securities totaled $13.2 billion, a decrease of $3.3 billion from the end of 2013. Total debt at December 31, 2014 stood at $27.8 billion, an increase of $7.4 billion from a year earlier.

For earnings history and earnings-related data on Chevron (CVX) click here.

You May Also Be Interested In

• Fisker (FSR) files form 10-K, sees more job cuts, reiterates going concern doubts
• Lockheed Martin (LMT) Tops Q1 EPS by 53c, Beats on Revenue; Offers FY24 Guidance
• Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals, Ltd. (KNSA) Misses Q1 EPS by 11c; raises guidance