CALGARY — Suncor Energy Inc. is reporting third quarter net earnings of $929 million, or 74 cents per common share, in its first quarterly earnings report since merging with Petro-Canada.
That compares to net earnings of $815 million, or 87 cents per common share, in the year-ago period.
But Suncor's operating earnings plunged in the quarter to $288 million, compared to $810 million a year ago.
Cash flow from operations also dropped sharply to $574 million, compared to $1.146 billion in the third quarter of 2008.
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Suncor blames the operating earnings and cash flow drops on weaker commodity prices in the third quarter this year and higher operating expenses at its oil sands operations due to increased production and sales volumes.
The energy giant says these factors were partially offset by increased upstream production resulting from the merger with Petro-Canada and improved operational performance in its existing oil sands assets.
"This was a milestone quarter in Suncor's history and a very productive one as we closed our merger with Petro-Canada and started an extensive integration of our operations across the new company," said Rick George, president and chief executive officer.
"The integration work we've completed in just a little over three months is already yielding some significant efficiencies that will enable Suncor to come out of this cycle stronger than ever as a globally competitive energy producer," George said.
As a result of the completion of the merger with Petro-Canada on August 1, 2009, Suncor became Canada's largest energy company and the fifth largest North American-based energy company by market value.