Shell profit spurts 23%
|
|
May 3, 2001: 7:36 a.m. ET
Royal/Dutch Shell profit jumps for fifth quarter as gas prices advance
|
LONDON (CNN) - Royal Dutch/Shell Group said on Thursday profits rose 23 percent on higher gas prices and improved earnings from refining.
The Anglo-Dutch oil and gas company said first-quarter net profit, excluding items, rose to $3.855 billion from $3.13 billion a year ago. Analysts polled by Reuters forecast earnings of $3.1-$3.8 billion.
Shell, posting its fifth-consecutive record quarter, has seen its plans to grow stall after U.S. Barrett Resources rejected its takeover bid and the Australian government blocked its move to take control of Woodside Petroleum.
Still, the world's second-largest publicly traded oil company has benefited from an increase in natural gas prices as demand rose.
The group's chairman, Sir Mark Moody-Stuart, who retires in June, said the company had again delivered on its promises.
"Of course, high oil and gas prices have contributed a lot to this result, but what is really important is that underlying performance has continued to improve," he said.
The chairman added it was a case of "some you win, some you lose" and he was "very disappointed" at the failure to acquire control of Woodside.
Analysts viewed the first quarter figures favourably: "These are pretty punchy results," said J.J.Traynor, oil sector analyst with Deutsche Bank.
"Shell and Exxon are the two largest oil companies in the world and while Exxon's performance has been flat, Shell's was up 7 percent, so these are some of the strongest results in the industry."
Shell spent $1.4 billion in the first quarter on a share buyback programme for Royal Dutch and Shell Transport stock. Shares of Shell Transport & Trading Co., which owns 40 percent of Royal Dutch/Shell Group, fell 2.7 percent to 567 pence in London.
"Oil sector shares are going down on macro-economic concerns, with oil prices expected to fall from $27 to $23 a barrel this year. Shell and BP are down by about the same amount," commented J.J.Traynor.
|
|
|
|
|
|