EurOil: Shell profits soar on high oil, gas prices

Shell reported a sharp upswing in profits in 2021 on the back of soaring commodity prices, according to results published on February 3.

Full-year adjusted earnings amounted to $19.29bn, Shell said, up from $4.85bn in the previous year, and surpassed a forecast of $17.8bn based on a Refinitiv analyst poll. In the fourth quarter, adjusted earnings reached $6.4bn.

Shell CEO Ben van Beurden described 2021 as a “momentous year” for the company, enabling it to be “bolder and move faster.”

“We delivered very strong financial performance in 2021, and our financial strength and discipline underpin the transformation of our company,” van Beurden said.

On the back of the strong result, Shell announced it would undertake a $8.5bn share buyback programme in the first half of 2022, and expected to raise its dividend by 4% to $0.25 per share in the first quarter. Its share buybacks were less than half this amount, $3.5bn, in 2021.

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