The British oil giant Shell announced Thursday a net profit group share multiplied by five in the second quarter, to 18 billion dollars. The surge in profitability follows the surge in hydrocarbon prices.
The juggernaut made record profits of nearly £10bn (over $12bn) between April and June and promised to pay its shareholders dividends worth £6.5bn. (over $7.8 billion).
The result also benefited from a reversal of provisions of 4.3 billion dollars, after the oil major revised upwards its medium and long-term oil and gas price projections, reversing part of the billions of dollars of write-downs taken during the pandemic.
The FTSE 100 company made adjusted profits of $11.5bn (£9.5bn) in the second quarter of the year, beating its previous record, set between January and March, by 26%. the company announced Thursday. Earnings more than doubled from the same period in 2021, and beat analysts’ expectations.
The scale of profits made by oil companies in the previous quarter prompted the UK government to give in to demands to introduce a windfall tax to use part of the gains in the program to support struggling households following soaring bills of energy. The windfall tax didn’t take effect until July 14, meaning second-quarter earnings and shareholder payouts weren’t affected.
According to Shell’s statement, “The war in Ukraine is first and foremost a human tragedy, but it has also caused significant disruption in global energy markets…We are committed to governments, our customers and our suppliers.” to overcome difficult implications and provide support and solutions when we can”.
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