- British oil giant Shell posted adjusted earnings of $3.26 billion for the fourth quarter, missing analyst expectations.
- European energy majors are expected to confront some tough choices this earnings season, with lower oil prices seen putting shareholder returns at risk.
British oil major Shell on Thursday reported its weakest quarterly profit in nearly five years, amid a weaker crude price environment and unfavorable tax adjustments in the fourth quarter.
Shell posted adjusted earnings of $3.26 billion for the quarter, missing analyst expectations of $3.53 billion, according to an LSEG-compiled consensus. A separate, company-provided analyst forecast had put Shell’s expected fourth-quarter profit at $3.51 billion.
It marks Shell’s weakest quarterly result since the first three months of 2021, when adjusted earnings came in at $3.2 billion.
For the full-year 2025, Shell posted weaker-than-expected adjusted earnings of $18.5 billion, compared to annual profit of $23.72 billion a year earlier.
“2025 was a year of accelerated momentum, with strong operational and financial performance across Shell,” Shell CEO Wael Sawan said in a statement.
The company announced a 4% increase in its dividend to $0.372 per share and a $3.5 billion share buyback program, a move that marks the 17th consecutive quarter of $3 billion or more in buybacks.
Net debt came in at $45.7 billion at the end of last year, with gearing at 20.7%. This reflects an increase from net debt of $41.2 billion and gearing of 18.8% at the end of the third quarter.
The results come as lower oil prices force European energy majors to confront some tough choices.
A challenging market environment, along with expectations for a particularly weak earnings season, had been expected to put the industry’s shareholder payouts at risk.
Norway’s Equinor was the first mover in this sense. The state-backed energy company announced hefty cuts to share buybacks on Wednesday after posting a 22% drop in fourth-quarter profit.
Equinor said it would reduce share buybacks to $1.5 billion this year, down from $5 billion last year, while also trimming investments in its renewables and low-emission energy projects.
Britain’s BP and France’s TotalEnergies are both scheduled to report fourth-quarter earnings next week.
