The oil multinational Shell has felt the weak energy consumption as a result of the corona pandemic. 2020 saw 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 are coming from 2020 with a stronger balance sheet.”
Increase in dividend in the 1st quarter of 2021
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.
Analysts said the 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.
Comprehensive corporate restructuring planned
The profit for the fourth quarter of 2020 was 87 percent below the previous year's value, as Shell further announced. Adjusted annual profit fell to $ 4.8 billion, a decrease of 71 percent compared to 2019. Shell has committed itself to a major corporate restructuring towards greener energies. In the course of this, 9,000 jobs are to be cut. The Executive Board plans to publish plans for its long-term strategy in the coming week.
