Shell profits above expectations, TotalEnergies at par with expectations despite lower prices
Shell and TotalEnergies reported quarterly profits that fell by 10% and 2% respectively on Thursday. The declines were largely due to lower oil prices. Shell, however, beat expectations thanks to better trading results at its vast gas division.
TotalEnergies, which is the largest trader of liquefied gas in the world, said that it would reduce its buybacks to $3.5 billion by the end of the fourth quarter. This was due to pressure from the company's creditors.
Shell's share buybacks topped $3 billion in the 16 most recent quarters. Shell will have repurchased more than 25% of its shares over the last four years by the end of this year.
Shell has achieved its target of 40% to 50% by combining the buybacks and dividends.
Shell's adjusted net profit fell to $5.4bn in the quarter ending September 30, but was still higher than the $5.09bn expected by analysts, according to a survey conducted by the company.
TOTALENERGIES PROFIT HELPED OUT BY REFINING MARGINS UPTREAM
TotalEnergies, a French energy giant, saw its adjusted net profit drop to $4.0 billion in the past year from $4.1 billion.
According to a consensus compiled LSEG, this met analyst expectations as higher upstream oil production and improved crude refinery margins partially offset the lower oil prices.
Shell's shares are flat at 9:25 GMT, while TotalEnergies is down 2.2%. The index of European Energy Companies was down 0.7%.
SHELL'S, UPSTREAM BEATS EXPECTATIONS
Shell reported quarterly cash flows from operations of $12 billion, down $14.7 billion from a year ago.
Shell's integrated Gas Unit and its oil-focused Upstream Division both exceeded expectations, but their profits were lower than last year.
Total's downstream performance grew by 76%. The margins for European fuel refiners have increased by more than 3000%, boosted by the EU's ban on fuel imported from Russia.
Shell's gearing (or debt to equity including leases) dipped a little from the previous quarter, but rose to 19%, up from 16% in last year.
TotalEnergies gearing, including leases, was slightly down quarter-on-quarter but up from 18% in last year.
Brent futures were around $68 a barrel on average in the third quarter. This is down from $78 a barrel compared to LSEG's data and calculations.
The average Dutch front-month gas price at the TTF hub was 33.04 euros per Megawatt Hour in the third quarter, down from 35.6 euros per MWh.
(source: Reuters)
