Shell takes Exxon's cash-flow crown as profit beats estimate

London

ROYAL Dutch Shell plc has taken Exxon Mobil Corp's cash-flow crown, a year after completing the biggest deal in its history.

Europe's largest energy company vaulted ahead on this closely watched indicator of financial health in the first nine months of 2017, as assets acquired from BG Group plc from Brazil to Australia churned out cash.

For the year as a whole, Shell is on track to surpass its larger US rival on the measure for the first time in about two decades.

Shell generated US$28.38 billion of cash flow from operations in the first nine months of this year, compared with …