The reason is the low energy consumption as a result of the corona pandemic.
The oil multi Shell felt the weakness of energy consumption as a result of the corona pandemic and in 2020 posted the lowest profit in at least two decades. The British-Dutch group performed even better than feared.
The annual profit shrank by 71 percent to 4.8 billion dollars (about 4 billion euros), as Shell announced on Thursday. Shell boss Ben van Beurden emphasized: “We come with a stronger balance sheet from 2020.”
Therefore, the plan is to increase the dividend by four percent in the first quarter of 2021. That would be the second slight increase since the payout cut earlier last year.
Group restructuring
Analysts said overall results were not as bad as feared, especially after competitor BP reported a loss of $ 5.7 billion. The US competitors Exxon Mobil and Chevron also reported enormous losses for 2020 due to the slump in demand.
The profit for the fourth quarter of 2020 was 87 percent below the previous year's value, as Shell further announced. The adjusted annual profit fell to 4.8 billion dollars, a decrease of 71 percent compared to 2019. Shell has committed itself to a comprehensive corporate restructuring towards less environmentally harmful energies. In the course of this, 9,000 positions are to be cut. The board wants to publish plans for its long-term strategy next week.
