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Empresas y finanzas

Exxon Mobil profit misses Street view; shares slip


    (Reuters) - Exxon Mobil Corp, the world's largest publicly traded oil company, posted lower-than-expected quarterly earnings on Thursday as oil and gas output declined and its chemicals business struggled.

    Amid lower oil prices, Exxon's oil and gas output fell 5.6 percent to 4.15 million barrels oil equivalent per day during the quarter.

    The Irving, Texas, company reported a second-quarter profit of $15.9 billion, or $3.41 per share, up from $10.68 billion, or $2.18 per share, a year earlier.

    Excluding a $7.5 billion gain related to the sale of a stake in its Japanese refining and chemicals business, and tax items, it earned $8.4 billion, or $1.80 per share. Analysts' average forecast was $1.95, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.

    "Production was a little light," Pavel Molchanov, analyst at Raymond James, said. "The real swing versus our estimates was chemicals."

    Excluding one-time items, earnings from the company's chemical operations totaled $820 million, nearly 33 percent below Raymond James' estimate for the unit, Molchanov said.

    Exxon shares fell to $84.60 in premarket trading from Wednesday's close at $85.24.

    (Reporting By Anna Driver; editing by John Wallace)