Shell 1Q Earnings Sink, Slashes Dividend
April 30 2020 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Jaime Llinares Taboada
Royal Dutch Shell PLC on Thursday said that it is cutting its
first-quarter dividend, as earnings for the period were dragged
down by the collapse in oil and gas demand and prices.
The British-Dutch oil giant said its profit for the three months
ended March. 31 on a net current cost of supplies basis--a figure
similar to the net income that U.S. oil companies report--fell to
$2.76 billion from $5.29 billion a year earlier. Net profit swung
to a $24 million loss from a $6.00 billion profit.
The company declared an interim dividend of $0.16 per share,
down from $0.47 a year earlier.
"Given the risk of a prolonged period of economic uncertainty,
weaker commodity prices, higher volatility and uncertain demand
outlook, the board believes that maintaining the current level of
shareholder distributions is not prudent", Chairman Chad Holliday
said.
Adjusted net CCS earnings, which excludes certain items and is
Shell's preferred metric, came in at $2.86 billion, down from $5.30
billion in January-March 2019 but above the $2.25 billion consensus
estimate compiled by Vara Research and based on 27 brokers'
forecasts.
Revenue decreased 28% to $60.0 billion. Cash flow from
operations was up 72% at $14.9 billion.
Shell's performance was significantly dragged by its upstream
business, with earnings including one-off items and impairments
swinging to a loss of $863 million.
Capital expenditure was $4.97 billion in the quarter, down from
$5.60 billion a year earlier. Shell said last month that it intends
to reduce 2020 capital expenditure below $20 billion, from the
original $25 billion plan.
Write to Jaime Llinares Taboada at jaime.llinares@wsj.com;
@JaimeLlinaresT
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 30, 2020 02:47 ET (06:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2020 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
Shell (LSE:RDSA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Mar 2024 to Apr 2024
Shell (LSE:RDSA)
Historical Stock Chart
From Apr 2023 to Apr 2024