Royal Dutch Shell products in Torzhok, Russia.
Andrey Rudakov | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell reported weaker-than-expected full-year net profit on Thursday, citing challenging macroeconomic conditions and lower oil and gas prices.
Net income attributable to shareholders on a current cost of supplies (CCS) basis, used as a proxy for net profit, and excluding identified items, came in at $2.931 billion. That compared with a profit of $5.688 billion in the same quarter a year ago and $4.767 billion in the third quarter.
Analysts had expected fourth-quarter net income attributable to shareholders on a CCS basis, and excluding identified items, to come in at $2.689 billion, according to data from Refinitiv.
The Anglo-Dutch energy giant warned last month that it would book additional charges against its income in the fourth quarter.
International benchmark Brent crude traded at $59.20 Thursday morning, down more than 1%, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) stood at $52.81, around 0.9% lower.
Both crude benchmarks slumped to multi-month lows earlier in the week, as energy market participants try to assess the potential impact of China’s coronavirus on oil demand growth.
Chinese health officials confirmed there had been 7,711 cases of the deadly pneumonia-like virus at the end of Wednesday, with 170 deaths.
The World Health Organization’s (WHO) Emergency Committee is set to reconvene on Thursday, with officials poised to decide whether the outbreak constitutes a global health emergency.
BP and Total are both expected to report their latest quarterly figures next week.
