SHELL PLC 4th QUARTER 2024 AND FULL YEAR UNAUDITED RESULTS |
SUMMARY OF UNAUDITED RESULTS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Quarters | $ million | Full year | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Q4 2024 | Q3 2024 | Q4 2023 | %¹ | Reference | 2024 | 2023 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
928 | 4,291 | 474 | -78 | Income/(loss) attributable to Shell plc shareholders | 16,093 | 19,359 | -17 | |||||||||||||||||||
3,661 | 6,028 | 7,306 | -39 | Adjusted Earnings | A | 23,716 | 28,250 | -16 | ||||||||||||||||||
14,281 | 16,005 | 16,335 | -11 | Adjusted EBITDA | A | 65,803 | 68,538 | -4 | ||||||||||||||||||
13,162 | 14,684 | 12,575 | -10 | Cash flow from operating activities | 54,684 | 54,191 | +1 | |||||||||||||||||||
(4,431) | (3,857) | (5,657) | Cash flow from investing activities | (15,154) | (17,734) | |||||||||||||||||||||
8,731 | 10,827 | 6,918 | Free cash flow | G | 39,530 | 36,457 | ||||||||||||||||||||
6,924 | 4,950 | 7,113 | Cash capital expenditure | C | 21,084 | 24,392 | ||||||||||||||||||||
9,401 | 9,570 | 10,897 | -2 | Operating expenses | F | 36,918 | 39,960 | -8 | ||||||||||||||||||
9,138 | 8,864 | 10,565 | +3 | Underlying operating expenses | F | 35,707 | 39,201 | -9 | ||||||||||||||||||
11.3% | 12.8% | 12.8% | ROACE2 | D | 11.3% | 12.8% | ||||||||||||||||||||
77,078 | 76,613 | 81,541 | Total debt | E | 77,078 | 81,541 | ||||||||||||||||||||
38,809 | 35,234 | 43,542 | Net debt | E | 38,809 | 43,542 | ||||||||||||||||||||
17.7% | 15.7% | 18.8% | Gearing | E | 17.7% | 18.8% | ||||||||||||||||||||
2,815 | 2,801 | 2,827 | +1 | Oil and gas production available for sale (thousand boe/d) | 2,836 | 2,791 | +2 | |||||||||||||||||||
0.15 | 0.69 | 0.07 | -78 | Basic earnings per share ($) | 2.55 | 2.88 | -11 | |||||||||||||||||||
0.60 | 0.96 | 1.11 | -38 | Adjusted Earnings per share ($) | B | 3.76 | 4.20 | -10 | ||||||||||||||||||
0.3580 | 0.3440 | 0.3440 | +4 | Dividend per share ($) | 1.3900 | 1.2935 | +7 |
2.Effective first quarter 2024, the definition has been amended and comparative information has been revised. See Reference D.
Quarter Analysis1
Income attributable to Shell plc shareholders, compared with the third quarter 2024, reflected higher exploration well write-offs, lower margins from crude and oil products trading and optimisation, lower Marketing margins and volumes, lower LNG trading and optimisation margins, lower realised oil prices, and unfavourable tax movements.
Fourth quarter 2024 income attributable to Shell plc shareholders also included net impairment charges and reversals of $2.2 billion, and net losses related to sale of assets. These items are included in identified items amounting to a net loss of $2.8 billion in the quarter. This compares with identified items in the third quarter 2024 which amounted to a net loss of $1.3 billion.
Adjusted Earnings and Adjusted EBITDA2 were driven by the same factors as income attributable to Shell plc shareholders and adjusted for the above identified items.
Cash flow from operating activities for the fourth quarter 2024 was $13.2 billion, and primarily driven by Adjusted EBITDA, and working capital inflows of $2.4 billion partly offset by tax payments of $2.9 billion, and outflows relating to the timing impact of payments relating to emission certificates and biofuel programmes of $1.4 billion. The working capital inflows mainly reflected accounts receivable and payable movements, and initial margin inflow.
Cash flow from investing activities for the quarter was an outflow of $4.4 billion, and included cash capital expenditure of $6.9 billion, partly offset by net other investing cash inflows of $1.1 billion, and divestment proceeds of $0.8 billion.
Net debt and Gearing: At the end of the fourth quarter 2024, net debt was $38.8 billion, compared with $35.2 billion at the end of the third quarter 2024, mainly reflecting lease additions of $5.4 billion, share buybacks, cash dividends paid to Shell plc shareholders, and interest payments, partly offset by free cash flow. Gearing was 17.7% at the end of the fourth quarter 2024, compared with 15.7% at the end of the third quarter 2024, mainly driven by higher net debt.
SHELL PLC
4th QUARTER 2024 AND FULL YEAR UNAUDITED RESULTS
Shareholder distributions
Total shareholder distributions in the quarter amounted to $5.7 billion comprising repurchases of shares of $3.6 billion and cash dividends paid to Shell plc shareholders of $2.1 billion. Dividends declared to Shell plc shareholders for the fourth quarter 2024 amount to $0.3580 per share. Shell has now completed $3.5 billion of share buybacks announced in the third quarter 2024 results announcement. Today, Shell announces a share buyback programme of $3.5 billion which is expected to be completed by the first quarter 2025 results announcement.
Full Year Analysis1
Income attributable to Shell plc shareholders, compared with the full year 2023, reflected lower LNG trading and optimisation margins, lower realised prices, lower refining margins, as well as lower trading and optimisation margins of power and pipeline gas in Renewables and Energy Solutions, partly offset by lower operating expenses, and higher realised Chemicals margins.
By focusing the portfolio and simplifying the organisation, $3.1 billion of pre-tax structural cost reductions3 were delivered through 2024 compared with 2022 levels, with $2.1 billion in the full year 2024.
Full year 2024 income attributable to Shell plc shareholders also included net impairment charges and reversals of $4.4 billion, reclassifications from equity to profit and loss of cumulative currency translation differences related to funding structures, unfavourable movements relating to an accounting mismatch due to fair value accounting of commodity derivatives, and charges related to redundancy and restructuring. These charges, reclassifications and movements are included in identified items amounting to a net loss of $7.4 billion. This compares with identified items in the full year 2023 which amounted to a net loss of $8.2 billion.
Adjusted Earnings and Adjusted EBITDA2 for the full year 2024 were driven by the same factors as income attributable to Shell plc shareholders and adjusted for identified items and the cost of supplies adjustment of positive $0.3 billion.
Cash flow from operating activities for the full year 2024 was $54.7 billion, and primarily driven by Adjusted EBITDA, and working capital inflows of $2.1 billion, partly offset by tax payments of $12.0 billion.
Cash flow from investing activities for the full year 2024 was an outflow of $15.2 billion and included cash capital expenditure of $21.1 billion, partly offset by divestment proceeds of $2.8 billion, and interest received of $2.4 billion.
This Unaudited Condensed Financial Report, together with supplementary financial and operational disclosure for this quarter, is available at www.shell.com/investors 4 . Details of progress to date on the financial targets that were announced during Capital Markets Day in June 2023 is available at https://www.shell.com/progress-on-cmd24.html 4.
1.All earnings amounts are shown post-tax, unless stated otherwise.
2.Adjusted EBITDA is without taxation.
3.See Reference J.
4.Not incorporated by reference.
FOURTH QUARTER 2024 PORTFOLIO DEVELOPMENTS
Upstream
In October 2024, we announced the start of production of the floating production storage and offloading facility (FPSO) Marechal Duque de Caxias in the Mero field, in the pre-salt area of the Santos Basin, offshore Brazil. Also known as Mero-3, the FPSO has an operational capacity of 180,000 barrels of oil per day (Shell share 19.3%).
In December 2024, we, along with Equinor ASA, announced the combination of our UK offshore oil and gas assets and expertise to form a new company which will be the UK North Sea's biggest independent producer. On deal completion, the new independent producer will be jointly owned by Equinor (50%) and Shell (50%). Completion of the transaction remains subject to approvals and is expected by the end of 2025.
In December 2024, we announced a final investment decision (FID) on Bonga North, a deep-water project off the coast of Nigeria. Shell (55%) operates the Bonga field in partnership with Esso Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. (20%), Nigerian Agip Exploration Ltd. (12.5%), and TotalEnergies Exploration and Production Nigeria Ltd. (12.5%), on behalf of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited.
In January 2025, we announced the start of production at the Shell-operated Whale floating production facility in the Gulf of Mexico. The Whale development is owned by Shell (60%, operator) and Chevron U.S.A. Inc. (40%).
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SHELL PLC
4th QUARTER 2024 AND FULL YEAR UNAUDITED RESULTS
Chemicals and Products
In January 2025, CNOOC and Shell Petrochemicals Company Limited (CSPC), a 50:50 joint venture between Shell and CNOOC Petrochemicals Investment Ltd, has taken a FID to expand its petrochemical complex in Daya Bay, Huizhou, south China.
Renewables and Energy Solutions
In October 2024, we signed an agreement to acquire a 100% equity stake in RISEC Holdings, LLC, which owns a 609-megawatt (MW) two-unit combined-cycle gas turbine power plant in Rhode Island, USA. The deal was completed in January 2025.
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SHELL PLC
4th QUARTER 2024 AND FULL YEAR UNAUDITED RESULTS
PERFORMANCE BY SEGMENT
INTEGRATED GAS | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Quarters | $ million | Full year | ||||||||||||||||||||||||
Q4 2024 | Q3 2024 | Q4 2023 | %¹ | Reference | 2024 | 2023 | % | |||||||||||||||||||
1,744 | 2,631 | 1,733 | -34 | Segment earnings | 9,590 | 7,058 | +36 | |||||||||||||||||||
(421) | (240) | (2,235) | Of which: Identified items | A | (1,800) | (6,861) | ||||||||||||||||||||
2,165 | 2,871 | 3,968 | -25 | Adjusted Earnings | A | 11,390 | 13,919 | -18 | ||||||||||||||||||
4,568 | 5,234 | 6,584 | -13 | Adjusted EBITDA | A | 20,978 | 23,773 | -12 | ||||||||||||||||||
4,391 | 3,623 | 3,597 | +21 | Cash flow from operating activities | A | 16,909 | 17,520 | -3 | ||||||||||||||||||
1,337 | 1,236 | 1,196 | Cash capital expenditure | C | 4,766 | 4,196 | ||||||||||||||||||||
116 | 136 | 113 | -15 | Liquids production available for sale (thousand b/d) | 132 | 128 | +2 | |||||||||||||||||||
4,574 | 4,669 | 4,570 | -2 | Natural gas production available for sale (million scf/d) | 4,769 | 4,700 | +1 | |||||||||||||||||||
905 | 941 | 901 | -4 | Total production available for sale (thousand boe/d) | 954 | 939 | +2 | |||||||||||||||||||
7.06 | 7.50 | 7.06 | -6 | LNG liquefaction volumes (million tonnes) | 29.09 | 28.29 | +3 | |||||||||||||||||||
15.50 | 17.04 | 18.09 | -9 | LNG sales volumes (million tonnes) | 65.82 | 67.09 | -2 |
Integrated Gas includes liquefied natural gas (LNG), conversion of natural gas into gas-to-liquids (GTL) fuels and other products. It includes natural gas and liquids exploration and extraction, and the operation of the upstream and midstream infrastructure necessary to deliver these to market. Integrated Gas also includes the marketing, trading and optimisation of LNG.
Quarter Analysis1
Segment earnings, compared with the third quarter 2024, reflected the net effect of lower contributions from trading and optimisation mainly driven by the comparative (non-cash) impact of expiring hedging contracts and slightly higher realised prices (decrease of $340 million), lower volumes (decrease of $283 million), and higher exploration well write-offs (increase of $275 million), partly offset by lower operating expenses (decrease of $97 million).
Fourth quarter 2024 segment earnings also included impairment charges of $339 million and a loss of $96 million related to sale of assets, partly offset by favourable movements of $109 million relating to an accounting mismatch due to fair value accounting of commodity derivatives. These charges and favourable movements are part of identified items and compare with the third quarter 2024 which included unfavourable movements of $213 million due to the fair value accounting of commodity derivatives. As part of Shell's normal business, commodity derivative hedge contracts are entered into for mitigation of economic exposures on future purchases, sales and inventory.
Adjusted Earnings and Adjusted EBITDA2 were driven by the same factors as the segment earnings and adjusted for identified items.
Cash flow from operating activities for the quarter was primarily driven by Adjusted EBITDA, net cash inflows related to derivatives of $120 million and working capital inflows of $114 million, partly offset by tax payments of $635 million.
Total oil and gas production, compared with the third quarter 2024, decreased by 4% mainly due to planned maintenance in Pearl GTL (Qatar). LNG liquefaction volumes decreased by 6% mainly due to lower feedgas supply and fewer cargoes due to the timing of liftings.
Full Year Analysis1
Segment earnings, compared with the full year 2023, reflected the combined effect of lower contributions from trading and optimisation and lower realised prices (decrease of $3,819 million), partly offset by higher volumes (increase of $514 million), lower operating expenses (decrease of $478 million), and favourable deferred tax movements ($399 million).
Full year 2024 segment earnings also included unfavourable movements of $1,088 million relating to an accounting mismatch due to fair value accounting of commodity derivatives, impairment charges of $363 million, and a net loss of $96 million related to sale of assets. These unfavourable movements and charges are part of identified items and compare with the full year 2023 which included unfavourable movements of $4,407 million due to the fair value accounting of commodity derivatives, and net impairment charges and reversals of $2,247 million. As part of Shell's normal business, commodity derivative hedge contracts are entered into for mitigation of economic exposures on future purchases, sales and inventory.
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