Suncor posts record cash flow, lifts dividend 10%

Suncor Energy Inc. (TSX:SU) reported third-quarter net earnings of $3.81 billion, or $3.27 per share, and record adjusted funds from operations of $6.7 billion, then raised its quarterly dividend by 10 per cent to 66 cents a share.

The Calgary-based company said in its Nov. 3 release that net earnings were up from $1.62 billion, or $1.34 per share, in the third quarter of 2025 and from $3.73 billion in the second quarter. By our calculation from the reported figures, that is a 136 per cent increase from a year earlier. Adjusted funds from operations, a non-GAAP measure, rose 75 per cent from $3.83 billion a year ago, and free funds flow more than doubled to $5.2 billion from $2.35 billion.

Net debt fell to $1.75 billion from $7.15 billion a year earlier and $4.48 billion at the end of the second quarter, a drop of about 76 per cent over 12 months. Suncor returned $2.05 billion to shareholders in the quarter, including nearly $1.4 billion in share buybacks and nearly $700 million in dividends. It said monthly buybacks have since risen by 50 per cent to $750 million.

“The third quarter was highlighted by record adjusted funds from operations and the ingenuity of our teams,” chief executive Rich Kruger said in the release, pointing to the company’s integration of oilsands mining, upgrading and refining. He said the company is also returning “significantly higher royalty payments and income taxes” to Canadians.

Upstream production averaged 852,500 barrels a day, up 12 per cent from 760,900 in the second quarter but about two per cent below the 870,000 a year earlier. Refinery crude throughput was 487,700 barrels a day, or 95 per cent utilization, and refined product sales set a third-quarter record of 677,000 barrels a day. Suncor said it sustained throughput at its Edmonton refinery during a turnaround by moving more bitumen through its own system.

Adjusted operating earnings, which strip out one-time items, were $4.63 billion. Suncor booked an asset impairment of $1.08 billion before tax tied to an agreement to sell non-core offshore assets, including Terra Nova, White Rose and West White Rose off Newfoundland and Labrador.

The results arrive as Alberta heavy oil sells at a steep discount. Western Canada Select settled at $31.60 a barrel below the U.S. benchmark on Nov. 3, the widest gap since 2018, Reuters reported, as we covered in our report on the discount. Suncor’s release credits its integrated model for the strong quarter; it does not break out the effect of the discount.

Placed beside its neighbour, Suncor and Cenovus together earned about $7.2 billion in net income in the quarter and returned roughly $3.9 billion to shareholders, based on the two companies’ releases. Cenovus reported record output above one million barrels of oil equivalent a day, as we reported in our Cenovus earnings story. For the market reaction, see our TSX close report, and for another Alberta oilsands deal, Imperial Oil’s Pathways timeline.

The higher dividend is payable Dec. 24 to shareholders of record on Dec. 3. All figures are in Canadian dollars and unaudited, from Suncor’s third-quarter news release.

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This article is for information only and is not investment advice.