Shell profit soars to US$8.8 billion

Royal Dutch Shell reported a forecast-beating 60% rise in first-quarter profit, as crude oil prices soared and margins improved. Shell said its net profit rose to US$8.78 billion from US$5.48 billion a year ago, while total revenue and other income grew 30% to US$114.84 billion. Royal Bank of Scotland analyst David Cline said the performance of Shell’s exploration and production arm was slightly below expectations, but that was more than offset by better-than-expected results from its downstream operations, where adjusted profit more than doubled to US$1.65 billion, from US$778 million a year ago. In particular, profits from oil trading, lubricant production and chemicals were all very strong, Cline said. (April 28,2011)