ConocoPhillips says merger benefits boost 4Q profit

摘要

US major ConocoPhillips said Jan 28 it earned US1.02-bil or US1.48/share in 2003 's fourth quarter,in line with analyst expectations and up from a year-ago loss of US428-mil or US0.63/share.Excluding one-off items and a big accounting change last year,continuing operations earned US989-mil,up from US722-mil a year ago mainly on price improvements.The company also claims it has reached more than US650-mil a year of ongoing profit improvement and "synergy capture" from the 2002 Phillips-Conoco merger.