Shell plans to repurchase $2 billion worth of its own shares before the end of this year. With the buyback program, the oil and gas group is rewarding its shareholders. In addition, because fewer pieces remain after the purchase, the remaining shares increase in value and increase earnings per share.
The dividend, a profit distribution to shareholders, will also be increased.
Shell has benefited from higher oil prices in recent years. As a result, the profit of the Anglo-Dutch company increased. The contrast with the second quarter of last year is enormous. Then a loss of more than 18 billion dollars was recorded. That was the low point of the corona crisis for the oil group. There was less demand for oil and gas, and oil prices temporarily collapsed. The picture has now clearly changed.
Shell’s annual revenue nearly doubled to $60.5 billion. Adjusted earnings based on the current estimated cost of inventory (ccs), the company’s key earnings metric, came in at $2.6 billion in the quarter. Below the line, Shell also recorded a net profit of 3.4 billion dollars. Oil and gas production at nearly 3.3 million barrels per day was slightly lower than the 3.5 million barrels in the first quarter.
Shell points out that the energy market will remain uncertain in the coming period due to the ongoing corona pandemic. In addition, the company may have to limit production of oil or gas due to “legal requirements and/or infrastructure restrictions,” it said in a statement to the figures. Shell already issued that warning a quarter earlier.
The comment could be related to a ruling by a Dutch court in a case about climate targets. In that climate case, the court ruled that Shell must immediately do more to reduce CO2 emissions. However, last week it was announced that the oil company would appeal against the ruling.
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