Shell nearly doubles adjusted earnings and raises its buyback to $5 billion
Quarterly adjusted earnings reach $10.81 billion as refining margins rise; the company announces a larger three-month share repurchase program.
Shell reported third-quarter adjusted earnings of $10.81 billion Thursday, nearly double the $5.43 billion reported a year earlier, and announced a $5 billion share buyback for the next three months. The company's release and CNBC reported the results and the new repurchase program.
Shell's indicative refining margin reached $42 a barrel, compared with $24 in the previous quarter. The company described strong operating performance in a volatile, elevated commodity-price environment. CNBC reported that disruption to energy supplies helped tighten the refined-fuel market. A refining margin is not the price of crude oil or a retail gasoline price.
The $5 billion buyback is up from $3 billion in the previous quarter. It is an announced program, not evidence that all the shares have already been repurchased. Shell also reported $16.3 billion in free cash flow. Adjusted earnings and free cash flow are different company-defined measures; neither should be substituted for the other.
The results offer a company-specific view of the energy squeeze. They do not settle where oil prices will go next or remove the operational risks from disruption. For today's broader trading backdrop, see First Light. The previous U.S. crude settlements are covered separately in the October 28 Chain, Crude & Chips.
