Marathon 1Q Profit Falls 61 Percent

JOHN PORRETTO

HOUSTON (AP) — Marathon Oil Corp. said Thursday its first-quarter profit fell 61 percent from a year ago as the company, like many competitors, saw results dive along with oil and natural gas prices. The result fell below Wall Street expectations.

Houston-based Marathon said earnings for the January-March period amounted to $282 million, or 40 cents a share, versus net income of $731 million, or $1.02 a share, in the prior-year period.

Adjusted for one-time items, first-quarter earnings totaled $240 million, or 34 cents per share, compared with $767 million, or $1.07 per share, in the first quarter of 2008.

Analysts surveyed by Thomson Reuters, who typically exclude one-time items, had forecast earnings of 38 cents per share, on average.

Quarterly revenue fell about 43 percent to $10.4 billion from $18.1 billion a year ago.

It has been a miserable quarter for the major integrated oil companies — those involved in exploration and production as well as refining and selling gasoline. Marathon is the fourth-largest U.S. integrated oil company.