Shell beat third-quarter profit forecasts today, helped by strong results from its gas division, and said it would maintain the pace of its share buyback programme at $3.5 billion over the next three months.
The oil major's adjusted earnings, its definition of net profit, fell 10% year-on-year to $5.4 billion in July to September due to lower prices. But that topped analysts' average estimate of $5.09 billion in a poll provided by the company.
The buyback pledge marks the 16th consecutive quarter when Shell will have returned at least $3 billion to shareholders by repurchasing shares. By the end of the year, Shell will have bought back more than a quarter of its shares in four years.
The buybacks, together with $2.1 billion in dividends, take shareholder payouts over the last four quarters to 48% of operating cash flow, within the company's 40% to 50% target range.
French oil major TotalEnergies reported on Thursday a 2.4% drop in third-quarter earnings, meeting expectations as higher upstream production and improving crude refining margins partially offset lower oil prices.
Adjusted net income at Total slipped to $4.0 billion from the $4.1 billion for the same period last year, in line with an analysts' consensus compiled by LSEG.
