Suncor Energy Inc. (NYSE: SU ) is expected to report its earnings soon.
In the last four quarters ending June 2011, the company's reported EPS fell short once, met analysts' consensus once and exceeded estimates twice.
The company is likely to announce more details regarding its joint venture with Total and the ongoing design work at Fort Hills and Joslyn.
For the third quarter of 2011, the company is likely to report revenues of C$10.1 billion, an increase of 9.7 percent over the same quarter a year ago. Operating profit is likely to come in at C$1.65 billion, an increase of 69 percent over the same quarter a year ago. Net profit is likely to come in at C$1.27 billion, an increase of 24.1 percent over the same quarter a year ago.
Revenue growth will be driven by increased sales following a production ramp up. In July, the company received its first oil from the Firebag 3 project. Moreover, production in Q2 was down due to major upgrades or maintenance, whereas there was no such production outage in Q3. So, the absence of maintenance production stoppages improves both top-line and bottom-line as well. I forecast crude oil (including oil sands) and natural gas production will average 555 kboe/d, up from 460 kboe/d in Q2 2011 due to the completion of significant maintenance activities at oil sands. Results from downstream operations could generate a positive surprise. With 300 kb/d of WTI-based feedstock, Suncor's inland refineries continue to benefit from the large spread between WTI-based crude inputs and Brent-based product prices.
Net-on-net, the company is likely to report EPS of C$0.81 for Q3 2011, compared with C$0.41 in Q3 2010.