U.S. oil giant Exxon Mobil Corp. on Monday reported a 23% drop in its fourth-quarter profits, but the result was better than many analysts had expected.
Exxon, the world's biggest non-governmental oil company, reported a profit of $6.05 billion, or $1.27 a share, down from $7.82 billion, or $1.54 a share, a year earlier.
During the quarter, weak demand for oil products like gasoline and diesel in the global economic slowdown hurt Exxon's refining business.
Nonetheless, analysts had expected a profit of $1.19 a share in the fourth quarter, and in the wake of the earnings report the corporation's shares rose 1.74% in premarket trading.
Exxon's revenue increased 6.1% to $89.84 billion as production rose nearly 2%.
Meanwhile, the outlook for U.S. markets was rosy as Dow Jones Industrial Average futures indicated a rise of 0.47%, S&P 500 futures pointed to an increase of 0.49% and Nasdaq 100 futures indicated a rise of 0.23%.