ExxonMobil sets annual profit record: $40.6B
By John Porretto, AP Business Writer

http://www.usatoday.com/money/companies/earnings/2008-02-01-exxon_N.htm

HOUSTON — ExxonMobil (XOM) on Friday posted the largest annual profit by a U.S. company — $40.6 billion — as the world's largest publicly traded oil company benefited from historic crude prices at year's end.

Exxon also set a U.S. record for the biggest quarterly profit, posting net income of $11.7 billion for the final three months of 2007, besting its own mark of $10.71 billion in the fourth quarter of 2005.

The previous record for annual profit was $39.5 billion, which ExxonMobil reported for 2006.

The annual profits, which were up 9pc, are a record for a European listed company and were driven by last year's soaring oil price, which averaged $90 a barrel for the last three months of 2007.

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