STOCK MARKET WATCH -- Thursday, 2 February 2012

[Ghost Dog]

27. Shell profits soar 54% to £18bn

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell has reported profits of 28.6 billion US dollars (£18.1 billion) for 2011, a jump of 54% on a year ago.

The improvement for the Anglo-Dutch firm came despite its below-expectations performance in the final quarter of the year, when trading was impacted by a squeeze on refining margins and lower American natural gas prices. It still made profits of 6.5 billion US dollars (£4.1 billion) in the fourth quarter, which represented a 13% rise on a year ago, after crude oil prices remained close to the 100 US dollars a barrel mark.

Shell has outshone its troubled rival BP in recent years and underlined its confidence by promising dividend growth for the first time since 2009.

It said its three-year strategic plan, which was first outlined in early 2010, had built the foundations for growth through a company-wide restructuring and by refocusing its efforts on emerging growth markets. The company, which saw production decline 3% last year, is planning investment in major projects worth 30 billion US dollars (£19 billion) in 2012 and said its outlook was boosted by more than 60 new projects and options...

... His comments come a month after Shell angered unions when it scrapped its final salary pension scheme for new recruits, meaning that not a single employer in the FTSE 100 Index offers the retirement package.

/... http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukpress/article/ALeqM5ihDEc2VulloL8-o_4Shp5lHOWtCw?docId=N0284061328169955338A