Oil giant Shell has said that profits rocketed to 39.9 billion dollars (£32.2 billion). It represented the company’s highest profit in its 115-year history and surpassed the expectations of industry experts and double the profits it declared last year.
It comes amid continued questions over the scale of windfall taxes on energy producers, which have benefited from higher prices. Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, said the profits were “obscene” and “an insult to working families”.
The London-listed oil major told investors that adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) leapt 53% against the previous year to £68.1bn, after energy prices were catapulted higher following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When taxes were included, the company declared annual profits of £32.2bn.
The figures are part of a debut set of results for Wael Sawan, who took over as chief executive at the start of the year.
Mr Sawan said: “Our results in Q4 and across the full year demonstrate the strength of Shell’s differentiated portfolio, as well as our capacity to deliver vital energy to our customers in a volatile world.
“We believe that Shell is well positioned to be the trusted partner through the energy transition.
“As we continue to put our powering progress strategy into action, we will build on our core strengths, further simplify the organisation and focus on performance.
“We intend to remain disciplined while delivering compelling shareholder returns, as demonstrated by the 15% dividend increase and the four-billion-dollar share buyback programme announced today.”
Earlier this week, the new chief said it would combine its oil and gas production and liquified natural gas (LNG) divisions as part of an overhaul which will also cut the number of executive roles at the company.
