Earnings slide at Shell as oil price weakens

(Sharecast News) - Oil major Shell posted a slide in quarterly earnings on Thursday, after lower prices and a rise in operating expenses weighed heavily. Adjusted earnings tumbled 40% quarter-on-quarer in the final three months of 2025 to $3.3bn, narrowly missing analyst expectations for around $3.5bn. In the fourth quarter of 2024, adjusted earnings were $3.7bn.

Income attributable to Shell shareholders was $4.1bn, a 22% drop on the previous quarter.

Shell blamed the weaker earnings on "unfavourable tax movements...lower marketing margins, lower realised prices and higher operating expenses".

Over the full year, income rose 11% to $17.8bn, while adjusted earnings fell 22% to $18.5bn. Analysts had been looking for earnings of $18.8bn.

Global oil prices fell heavily in 2025, and are expected to continue tracking lower throughout the first half.

However, despite the impact on earnings, the blue chip announced plans to return $3.5bn to investors through a share buyback, and raised its divided by 4%.

Wael Sawan, chief executive, said: "2025 was a year of accelerated momentum, with strong operational and financial performance across Shell.

"We generated free cash flow of $26bn, made significant progress in focusing our portfolio and reached $5bn of cost savings since 2022, with more to come."