EL DORADO, Ark. -- Murphy Oil Corp. has announced that net income in fourth-quarter 2008 was $158.5 million, 83 cents per diluted share, down from net income in fourth-quarter 2007 of $206.1 million, $1.07 per diluted share. For the year of 2008, net income totaled $1.77 billion, $9.22 per diluted share, which was significantly above the $766.5 million, $4.01 per diluted share, of net income in 2007.
Net income in fourth-quarter 2008 was less than the same period of 2007 primarily due to lower earnings for the company's exploration and production operations, but this was [image-nocss] partially offset by greatly improved results for the company's refining and marketing operations.
The company's income contribution from exploration and production operations was $95.9 million in fourth-quarter 2008 compared to $268.2 million in the same quarter of 2007.
The company's refining and marketing operations had record net income of $140.5 million in fourth-quarter 2008 compared to a net loss of $27.4 million in the 2007 quarter. The improved earnings in the 2008 quarter were mostly attributable to very strong U.S. retail marketing margins early in the quarter.
Income from the company's exploration and production and the refining and marketing businesses was higher for the full-year 2008 compared to 2007, but these improvements were partially offset by higher after-tax costs of corporate activities in 2008.
The company's exploration and production operations earned $1.63 billion in 2008 compared to $657.1 million in 2007.
The company's refining and marketing operations generated record annual income of $313.8 million in 2008, compared to profits of $205.7 million in 2007. The improved results in 2008 were caused mostly by higher U.S. retail gasoline margins; however, U.S. refining margins were much weaker in 2008 compared to 2007.
The 2007 period included a $59.5 million after-tax noncash LIFO charge in the U.K. and a $24 million after-tax charge related to closing 55 retail gasoline stations in the United States and Canada.
Click herefor a transcript of the company's earnings call.
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