Shell reported a profit of $3.66 billion in the fourth quarter of 2024 results, a drop from $7.31 billion in the same period last year due to lower refining margins, and lower liquefied natural gas (LNG) trading.
“2024 was another year of strong financial performance across Shell. Despite the lower earnings this quarter, cash delivery remained solid, and we generated free cash flow of $40 billion across the year, higher than 2023, in a lower price environment,” said Shell plc CEO, Wael Sawan.
Shell announced a 4% increase in dividends to $0.358 per share and initiated a $3.5 billion share buyback program.
Since taking over as CEO two years back, Wael Sawan has focused on cutting costs and realigning Shell with its most profitable sectors, oil, gas and biofuels, and shifting away from renewable power generation.
“Our continued focus on simplification helped to deliver over $3 billion in structural cost reductions since 2022, meeting our target ahead of schedule, whilst also making significant progress against all our other financial targets,” Sawan said.