Shell calls end to austerity with return to full dividend

London

ROYAL Dutch Shell on Tuesday cancelled an austerity dividend policy as the oil and gas company boosted its cash generation forecasts, drawing a line under three years of oil price turmoil.

The Anglo-Dutch company said it will abolish its scrip dividend, through which investors can opt to receive dividends in shares or cash, in the fourth quarter of 2017. The scrip dividend scheme was introduced in early 2015 after oil prices fell by more than half from over US$100 a barrel.

With lower debt, oil prices above US$60 a barrel and progress in asset sales, pressure has mounted on Shell to deliver on commitments made in 2015 to remove the scrip and launch a share b…