Daily Telegraph: Royal Dutch Shell’s results beat market expectations in the first half.
25 October 2010
When it posts third-quarter figures on Thursday, investors will be watching to see whether Peter Voser, its chief executive, unveils solid results again, as arch-rival BP struggles to recover from its Gulf of Mexico oil spill.
Shell’s restructuring programme and a higher oil price helped it to second-quarter profits of around $4.5bn (£2.87bn). The oil giant had slashed its spending by $3.5bn over the previous 18 months by shedding 7,000 staff and making operational savings. At the time, Shell said its radical restructuring programme had come to an end earlier than planned.
Oil prices are still high at around $80 per barrel and its refining and marketing division is doing better than last year. The City is therefore expecting profits on a cost of supply basis (stripping out inventory effects) to rise by 50pc on last year to $4.3bn.
Analysts at BNP Paribas said: “We expect earnings per share growth to be sector-leading as new mega-projects come on stream.”
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