Shell二季度利润大幅超预期但买回未上调

Shell posts second-highest profits ever as traders cash in on Iran disruption
Shell reported its second-highest quarterly profit ever, as the war in the Middle East continued to create opportunities for its traders even as its gas production fell.
The UK oil major reported $9.8bn in adjusted earnings, ahead of a consensus prediction of $8.9bn by analysts and up from $4.3bn in the same quarter last year.
It was the second-highest quarterly earnings for Shell, behind only the $11.5bn made in 2022 after Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine caused an energy crisis in Europe.
“I’ve been in this job for 15 quarters. Every single quarter I would say volatility is the new normal,” chief executive Wael Sawan told CNBC, adding that the environment had provided a “very strong tailwind” for Shell. “We have one of the world’s largest and strongest trading capabilities and that allows us to deal with times like this,” he said.
Traders typically benefit from price swings in commodity markets because they create larger spreads between buyers and sellers and more opportunities for arbitrage and demand for hedging from customers such as utilities and airlines.
This was also apparent in equity and bond markets. The London Stock Exchange Group reported record first-half earnings on Thursday, with a one-third rise in operating profits to £1.4bn.
Chief executive David Schwimmer said LSEG’s markets business “had an exceptional first half” and that “some of that of course is related to volatility in the different asset classes”.
Shell said the war in the Middle East, which hit its Pearl gas-to-liquids plant in Qatar, had been the main reason for a 31 per cent fall in gas production quarter on quarter.
“On the downside there is the stoppage of our gas-to-liquids facility. We also have LNG interests in Qatar,” Sawan said. But he added that as “the world’s largest LNG player” it had access to other supplies, particularly as its operations on the west coast of Canada increase.
As the price of refined fuels, such as jet fuel and diesel, remained high in the quarter, Shell’s seven refineries ran beyond their nominal capacity, at 102 per cent utilisation, to keep up with demand. Adjusted earnings at the company’s chemicals and products division rose 49 per cent quarter on quarter to $2.8bn.
Shell’s total shareholder returns have led its peers over the past three years, but the company has underperformed compared with its rivals in the year to date after trimming its quarterly share buyback programme to $3bn in May.
The oil major said it would hold its buybacks at the same level in the upcoming quarter but would also complete $1.2bn of buybacks it was unable to make in the previous quarter because of its acquisition of ARC Resources.
Shell shares rose 1.2 per cent in early trading.