Shell keeps buybacks steady as profit falls, misses expectations

[LONDON] Shell’s fourth-quarter net profit of US$3.3 billion missed expectations, dropping 11 per cent from the year before amid lower oil prices, it said on Thursday (Feb 5).

This comes as it keeps its share buyback programme steady at US$3.5 billion for the next three months.

The profits at its integrated gas and marketing divisions were below expectations, while a loss at its chemicals and products unit, where it had flagged weak oil trading would hit its bottom line, was larger than foreseen by analysts.

The average analyst estimate in a company-provided poll for adjusted earnings, Shell’s definition of net profit, was US$3.5 billion.

The world’s largest liquefied natural gas trader reported fourth-quarter cash flow from operations of US$9.4 billion, above expectations of US$7.9 billion. This is against US$13.2 billion in the same quarter the year before.

Brent futures averaged around US$63 a barrel in the quarter, down from about US$74 the year before, based on London Stock Exchange Group data and Reuters calculations.

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The benchmark Dutch front-month gas contract at the Title Transfer Facility hub averaged about 30 euros a megawatt-hour in the quarter, down from around 43.3 euros the year before. REUTERS