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Shell PLC on Thursday maintained the pace of its share buyback, and raised its dividend, as second quarter profit fell but still topped expectations. The London-based oil major said adjusted earnings fell 32% to $4.26 billion in the second quarter of 2025 from $6.29 billion a year prior, ahead of Vara consensus of $3.74 billion. Attributable income declined 2.3% to $3.60 billion from $3.52 billion. Results reflected lower trading and optimisation margins and lower realised liquids and gas prices, partly offset by higher Marketing margins and lower operating expenses, Shell said. Cash flow from operating activities of $11.94 billion was 11% lower than $13.51 billion last year but again ahead of Vara consensus of $11.44 billion. Basic earnings per share totalled $0.61 in the quarter, up 11% compared to $0.55 a year ago, but fell 27% to $0.72 per share from $0.99 on an adjusted basis. Net debt increased to $43.22 billion in the quarter from $38.31 billion a year ago, with gearing up to 19.1% from 17.0%. Chief Executive Wael Sawan said: ‘Shell generated robust cash flows reflecting strong operational performance in a less favourable macro environment.’ In response, shares in Shell rose 1.9% to 2,729.00 pence each in London on Thursday morning. The wider FTSE 100 up 0.2%. For the half-year, Shell said adjusted earnings dropped 30% to $9.84 billion from $14.03 billion a year prior. Income attributable to shareholders fell 23% to $8.38 billion from $10.87 billion, while basic earnings per share fell 18% to $1.40 from $1.70. Total revenue and other income sank to $136.60 billion from $149.76 billion a year ago. Shell increased its half-year dividend by 4.1% to 71.6 US cents from 68.8 cents a year ago and announced a $3.5 billion share buyback, which Sawan pointed out was the 15th consecutive quarter of at least $3 billion in buybacks. The new buyback is expected to be completed by the third quarter results announcement. Shell said it achieved $0.8 billion of structural cost reductions in the first half of 2025, of which $0.5 billion was through non-portfolio actions. This takes cumulative reductions since 2022 to $3.9 billion, against its capital markets day 2025 target of $5 billion to $7 billion by end of 2028. Looking ahead, Shell said it expects upstream production between 1.7 million and 1.9 million barrels of oil equivalent per day in the third quarter. It sees integrated gas production between 910,000 and 970,000 barrels of oil per day. Copyright 2025 Alliance News Ltd. All Rights Reserved.
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