The Successful Investor Hotline – Friday, February 3, 2012

Article Excerpt

IMPERIAL OIL LTD., $47.37, Toronto symbol IMO, reported sharply higher earnings for 2011, mainly due to rising oil prices and higher production. During the year, the company earned $3.4 billion, or $3.95 a share. That beat the consensus estimate of $3.55 a share. The 2011 earnings are also up 52.5% from $2.2 billion, or $2.59 a share, in 2010. Revenue rose 22.4%, to $30.7 billion from $25.1 billion. Cash flow per share rose 33.1%, to $4.70 from $3.53. Imperial gets most of its oil from its Cold Lake oil sands project in Alberta. Cold Lake’s daily production rose 11.1%, to a record 160,000 barrels in 2011 from 144,000 barrels in 2010. That helped offset lower production of conventional oil and natural gas. In all, Imperial produced an average of 297,000 barrels of oil equivalent (including natural gas) in 2011, up 1.0% from 294,000 barrels in 2010. The company also announced that the first phase of its Kearl oil sands project in northern Alberta…