LONDON: Royal Dutch Shell Plc reported a 33 percent increase in quarterly earnings, beating analyst forecasts, after producing more liquids and selling at higher prices.
The Anglo-Dutch oil company also raised its quarterly dividend and said the value of its share buybacks and dividends for 2014 and 2015 would exceed $30bn. The stock rose 3 percent in early trade.
Shell’s second-quarter earnings on a current cost of supplies basis excluding one-time items were $6.1bn, up 33 percent from a year earlier. Analysts had expected earnings of $5.46bn. The company joins rival BP Plc in reporting better-than-expected earnings.
Chief Executive Ben van Beurden is aiming to improve returns through selling assets and more selective project choices after a rare profit warning issued in January. “The upstream number was good and the downstream number was better than expected,” said Jason Kenney, analyst at Santander, referring to Shell’s two largest divisions. “Although downstream was still a weak number.” “Across the business there are some very material writedowns. There may be even more writedowns to come.”
The quarter’s earnings included a net charge of $1bn after tax. Impairments of $1.943bn related mainly to gas assets in the United States. Shell announced a second-quarter 2014 dividend of $0.47 per ordinary share, up 4 percent year on year and in line with analyst forecasts. Reuters
