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Shell reported lower than expected profits in the final quarter of 2024, but raised its dividend by 4 per cent and said it would maintain its $3.5bn-a-quarter share buyback programme.
The oil major posted adjusted earnings of $3.7bn, a 39 per cent fall from the third quarter and roughly 10 per cent below analysts’ consensus estimates. It blamed write-offs in its oil exploration business, lower margins across its business and lower oil prices.
It also booked $2.2bn of impairments and losses on asset sales.
The group reported adjusted earnings of $23.7bn for the whole of 2024, 16 per cent lower than in 2023. But the company reduced its net debt over the course of 2024 from $43.5bn to $38.8bn.
Shell plans to update investors on its strategy at a capital markets day in New York on March 25.
Since announcing a 10-quarter “sprint” in June 2023, chief executive Wael Sawan has focused on cost-cutting and improving Shell’s operations, without laying out a broader vision for Shell’s future.
But investors are increasingly focused on Sawan’s next move. Last year, he warned that if the persistent gap between the company’s valuation and its US peers had not narrowed by the end of the sprint, he would consider moving Shell’s listing to New York.
Moving the listing would deal a hammer blow to the London Stock Exchange, which has been struggling to attract and retain high-profile companies.
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