Shell petrol station is located at 106 Old Brompton Road, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, London, UK on December 25, 2025.
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British oil major shell on Thursday reported its lowest quarterly profit in nearly five years due to a weak oil price environment and an unfavorable tax adjustment in the fourth quarter.
According to consensus compiled by LSEG, Shell reported adjusted profit of $3.26 billion in the quarter, below analysts’ expectations of $3.53 billion. Separate analyst estimates provided by the company had predicted Shell’s fourth-quarter profit of $3.51 billion.
This was Shell’s weakest quarterly result since the first three months of 2021, when adjusted profit was $3.2 billion.
Shell’s full-year 2025 adjusted profit was lower than expected at $18.5 billion, compared with annual profit of $23.72 billion a year earlier.
“First of all, let me say this was a very strong operating quarter for us,” Shell CEO Wael Sawan told CNBC’s “Squawk Box Europe” on Thursday.
“A few things hurt us this quarter. The number one reason was the tax adjustment that went against us. Chemicals was certainly weak, but I would really like to focus on the strength of our integrated gas, upstream and marketing business,” Sawant said.
The company announced a 4% increase in its dividend to $0.372 per share and a $3.5 billion stock repurchase program, marking the 17th consecutive quarter in which it has repurchased more than $3 billion.
Net debt at the end of last year was $45.7 billion, with a ratio of 20.7%. This reflects an increase from net debt of $41.2 billion and gearing of 18.8% at the end of the third quarter.
performance and revenue
The results come as falling oil prices force Europe’s energy giants to make some difficult choices.
The industry’s shareholder dividends were expected to be at risk due to the challenging market environment, especially with expectations of weaker performance.
Norwegian Equinor He was a pioneer in this sense. The state-run energy company announced a sharp cut in share buybacks on Wednesday after its fourth-quarter profit fell 22%.
Equinor announced it will reduce its share buybacks this year to $1.5 billion from $5 billion last year, while also cutting investments in renewable energy and low-emission energy projects.
Shell’s Sawant said he took the job about three years ago to drive a culture of performance within the company.
“Looking ahead, I think there’s still a lot of potential to actually improve performance,” Sawan said, citing the introduction of artificial intelligence and supply chain improvements.
“But there are also opportunities to actually improve returns. And I would say this is the next step. You’ll see us continue to consistently pursue returns on capital and continue to drive improved returns on capital,” he added.
british blood pressure and french total energy Both companies are scheduled to announce their fourth quarter results next week.
