Christopher
Johnson:
Welcome
to
Stock
of
the
Week.
My
name
is
Christopher
Johnson,
Data
Journalist
at
Morningstar
UK.
British
oil
giant
Shell
has
just
announced
higher-than-
anticipated
full-year
profits
for
2023.
Europe’s
largest
oil
and
gas
company
reported
adjusted
earnings
of
$28.25
billion,
beating
analyst
expectations
that
it
would reach
$27.5
billion. Although,
the
final
figure
is
a
29%
drop
from
its
whopping
2022
full
year
profit
of
almost
$40
billion,
it
is
still
higher
than
any
other
year
since
2011.
In
its
annual
report,
Shell
increased
its
dividend
by
4%
and it
has
announced
the
commencement
of a
$3.5
billion
share
buyback
program
over
the
next
three
months. The
oil
and
gas
behemoth
also
saw
strong
adjusted
earnings
for
the
final
quarter
of
2023
raking
in
$7.31
billion,
although
a
decrease from
the
$9.81
billion
it
recorded
a
year
earlier.
Shell
owed
much
of
its
positive
returns to the
trading
of
liquefied
natural
gas,
which
many
European
countries
used
as
a
lifeline
after
Russia
cut
off
the
continent
from
its
natural
gas
supplies. But
it
blamed
a
fall
in
profits
on lower
oil
and
gas
prices,
muted
volumes
being
traded,
as
well
as
smaller
margins
for
the
refining
of
crude
oil.
Shell
benefited
from
the
price
of
oil
and
gas
surging
after
the
end
of
Covid
lockdowns
and
Russia’s
invasion
of
Ukraine. Brent
crude
oil
traded
at
around $128
a
barrel
following
the
invasion
in
March
2022
but
has
since
dropped
and
is
currently
trading
at
about
$80.
The
report
highlighted
Shell’s
chemicals
unit
as the
worst
performing
part
of
the
business,
with
adjusted
earnings
falling
from
$1.38
billion
in
the
third
quarter
of
2023
to
a
measly
$83
million
in
the
last
three
months
of
the
year.
Its
renewables
and
energy
solutions
division
also
saw
limited adjusted
earnings
of
$155
million,
with
Shell
stating
it
will
scale
back
this
part
of
the
business
to
focus
on
boosting
returns
for
shareholders.
Shell
is
currently
trading
at
£25.15
a
2.78%
increase
as
of
10:13am.
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