Exxon Mobil Earnings Drop 23 Percent

Exxon Mobil says its fourth-quarter earnings tumbled 23 percent as higher oil prices squeezed profit margins in its refining business.

The world's largest publicly traded oil company reported earnings of $6.05 billion, or $1.27 a share, for the final three months of 2009. That compares with $7.82 billion, or $1.54 a share, a year earlier.

The result marks five straight quarters of lower profits for Exxon.

Analysts expected $1.19 a share in the fourth quarter. Shares rose 2 percent in premarket trading.

For the full year, Exxon Mobil Corp. earned $19.3 billion, or $3.98 a share. That compares with a record-breaking year in 2008, when Exxon had the highest profit ever for a U.S. company with earnings of $45.2 billion, or $8.66 a share.