Royal Dutch Shell plc (LON:RDSB) boss Ben van Beurden boasted of a “strong start” to the year despite challenging conditions as the oil supermajor reported a 2% increase in income attributable to shareholders, at US$6bn from US$5.89bn a year ago.
CCS earnings – the most commonly looked at measure of Shell’s profitability – meanwhile showed a 7% decline at US$5.29bn for the first quarter amid lower chemical prices, refining margins, cheaper oil, and reduced tax credits, though the company also noted better trading profits, along with higher LNG and gas pricing.
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Cashflow amounted to US$8.6bn, and, some US$3.9bn was paid out to shareholders as dividends during the quarter. Shell also today launches the next tranche of its share buy-back programme, with the intention to purchase some US$2.75bn of shares in the market between now and the end of July.
“Shell has made a strong start to 2019, with the first quarter financial performance demonstrating the strength of our strategy and the quality of our portfolio of assets,” van Beurden said in the quarterly results statement.
He added: “Our integrated value chain enabled our downstream business to deliver robust results despite challenging market conditions.
“The consistent financial performance across all our businesses provides confidence in meeting our 2020 outlook.”