Shell has made a record profit of $ 39.87 billion in 2022 thanks to higher prices for gas and oil.
The result for the last quarter of 2022 was also better than expected. Adjusted profit grew to $9.8 billion. Shell also buys back its own shares for USD 4 billion. The profit on his gas trading exceeded expectations.
The new CEO Wael Sawan of the British group since last year reported earnings per share of $ 1.39 on Thursday, where the market had expected only $ 1.15.
Analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg also expected a slightly lower adjusted quarterly profit of about $8.2 billion, compared to last year’s $6.4 billion. The annual profit is therefore 11 billion dollars above that of 2021 (28.4 billion). Fourth-quarter comparable sales are $68.4 billion (2021: $45.1 billion).
Europe’s largest energy company warned of a setback this year: a UK tax levy of around $2 billion due to excessive or windfall gains in the energy crisis. That was $1.9 billion. Gas, oil and electricity prices exploded thanks to scarcity and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Big Oil walks in
Investors compare the Shell annual figures with results of other Big Oil companies. ExxonMobil turned in $56 billion in profit. Chevron announced a $75 billion share buyback on revenues of $36.5 billion.
Shell plc is the largest merchant of liquefied gas. Despite two production outages in Australia at its Prelude platform, Sawan – who led the business before his appointment as CEO – said LNG revenues are “significantly” higher than last quarter.
Analysts also look at the relatively small results for the Energy Solutions branch with renewable products. The profit there should be $ 93.4 million, according to analysts, that has become $ 293 million.
Shell is expanding in sustainable energy, investing 4 billion dollars a year in sustainability. It sent its first cargo of 70,000 tons of ‘climate neutral’ LNG, liquefied gas. Shell bought 190,000 tons of CO2 rights for this.
American complaint
On Wednesday, American climate activists filed a complaint with the US regulator SEC about Shell. The group is said to have “materially misrepresented” its financial investments in renewable energy. Shell would pretend to be greener than it is.
In the Netherlands, Follow This states that Shell adheres to such greenwashing of fossil investments. A number of shareholders, including pension funds, have joined in on this.
Sawal, successor to Ben van Beurden, who stepped down as CEO after eight years, is under pressure to improve results compared to Shell’s competitors. The CEO announced this year that he wanted to investigate the sale of loss-making energy contracts to consumers in the Netherlands, Germany and the United Kingdom.
Sawan is also embarking on integration of gas and upstream activities. In addition, the number of board members will be reduced. The board is going down from nine to seven people. Euleen Goh then announced on Tuesday that she would step down as deputy chair. Shell proposes Dick Boer, the Dutch former CEO of Ahold Delhaize, as a replacement.