Shell reported on Thursday a profit of $9.13 billion in the first quarter, its highest ever, boosted by higher oil and gas prices and a strong performance of its trading division.
Shell joins sector rivals, including BP and TotalEnergies, which also saw a sharp rise in profits driven by energy prices and strong trading. Norway's Equinor, a major seller of gas in Europe, reported record earnings on Wednesday.
First-quarter adjusted earnings rose 43 per cent from the previous quarter to $9.13 billion, above an average analyst forecast provided by the company for a $8.67 billion profit.
That compares with earnings of $3.13 billion a year earlier.
Shell said that its dividend payments and share repurchases reached $5.4 billion in the quarter, part of its plan to buy back $8.5 billion shares in the first half of the year.
Its dividend rose to 25 cents per share as planned.
It said that in the current environment it expects shareholder distributions to exceed 30 per cent of cashflow in the second half of the year.
Shell said it wrote down $3.9 billion post-tax as a result of its decision to exit its operations in Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. It is also winding down oil and gas trading with Russia.
Shell plc Chief Executive Officer, Ben van Beurden, said: "The war in Ukraine is first and foremost a human tragedy, but it has also caused significant disruption to global energy markets and has shown that secure, reliable and affordable energy simply cannot be taken for granted.
"The impacts of this uncertainty and the higher cost that comes with it are being felt far and wide. We have been engaging with governments, our customers and suppliers to work through the challenging implications and provide support and solutions where we can."
Read More : https://www.thenationalnews.com/Business/UK/2022/05/05/shell-posts-record-profit-on-high-energy-prices-and-trading-boost/
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