Exxon Mobil Puts Merger Savings to Work

Exxon Mobil Corp. said it will buy back stock and boost spending in the next few years as the world’s biggest publicly traded oil company reaps higher-than-expected savings from the merger that created it in November. Exxon Mobil raised its estimate of merger-related savings by 20% to $4.6 billion a year, partly because of more job cuts. The company expects to add $1.6 billion to net income this year, $1.9 billion next year and $3 billion in 2002. The merger is “essentially complete,” Chief Executive Lee Raymond told analysts in New York. By 2002, Exxon Mobil expects to have slashed 19,000 jobs, or 15% of its 1998 work force of 123,000. That’s 3,000 more job cuts than the Irving, Texas-based company had forecast in December. Exxon Mobil shares fell 19 cents to close at $80 on the New York Stock Exchange. *

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