Despite payouts the oil and gas giant faces growing investor pressure to address its carbon emissions

Shell will shower its shareholders with another $3.5bn (£2.8bn) in share buy-backs over the next quarter after reporting better than expected profits of almost $8bn for the first three months of the year.

The company reported adjusted earnings of $7.7bn for the first quarter, below the $9.6bn earned in the same quarter last year but well above analyst predictions of $6.5bn.

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Energy giant Shell has beaten City expectations this morning by reporting adjusted earnings of $7.7bn for the first quarter of 2024.

S hell’s earnings were lower than a year ago – it made a bumper $9.6bn in Q1 2023 – but well above analyst predictions of $6.5bn.

“Shell delivered another quarter of strong operational and financial performance, demonstrating our continued focus on delivering more value with less emissions,”

“Shell continuing to rake in huge sums of money shows us that huge polluter profits were not a one-off but are the twisted reality of an energy system that benefits climate-wrecking companies to the cost of everyone else.”

“Companies like Shell saw record profits while the energy crisis dragged millions of families into poverty through unaffordable energy bills. Meanwhile fossil fuel giants fought hard against paying more tax.

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Company is fighting Dutch court ruling that says it must emit 45% less CO2 by 2030 than in 2019

Shell has argued that it “lobbies for, not against, the energy transition” on the final day of its appeal against a landmark climate ruling.

The fossil fuel company is fighting the decision of a Dutch court in 2021 that forces it to pump 45% less planet-heating CO2 into the atmosphere by 2030 than it did in 2019. In court on Friday, Shell argued the ruling is ineffective, onerous and does not fit into the existing legal system.

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The biggest company on the market is threatening to leave. That is a different order of seriousness than seeing Flutter and CRH flee

Last July, Wael Sawan, the chief executive of Shell, told the BBC about the terrific time he had on a visit to the New York stock exchange. The welcome was “exemplary”, he enthused, and the locals even flew the Shell flag next to their own. “They [the NYSE officials] said we continue to value a company that provides us the energy we desperately need,” he continued, adding that he wouldn’t rule out moving Shell’s stock market listing to the US in time, an inflammatory suggestion given the general angst over the state of the London market.

Now he’s at it again. In remarks to Bloomberg published this week, he said Shell had “a location” – meaning London – “that clearly seems to be undervalued”. His beef is the perceived undervaluation of Shell’s shares versus those of New York-listed rivals Chevron and ExxonMobil. If the valuation gap doesn’t close, “we have to look at all options. All options,” he emphasised .

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Ben van Beurden says firm is undervalued in UK and US investors are ‘more positive’ about fossil fuels

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Shell’s former chief executive has stoked fears that the oil company will quit the London Stock Exchange in favour of a New York listing because US investors are “more positive” about fossil fuels.

Ben van Beurden used his first public interview since stepping down as Shell’s boss in 2021 to echo concerns that the £180bn company is “massively undervalued” by the UK market compared with its US listed rivals.

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Analysis reveals many big producers increased output of fossil fuels and related emissions in seven years after Paris climate deal

A mere 57 oil, gas, coal and cement producers are directly linked to 80% of the world’s greenhouse gas emissions since the 2016 Paris climate agreement, a study has shown.

This powerful cohort of state-controlled corporations and shareholder-owned multinationals are the leading drivers of the climate crisis, according to the Carbon Majors Database , which is compiled by world-renowned researchers.

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More than 30 public figures sign letter condemning $1m legal action

More than 30 public figures including Emma Thompson, Imelda Staunton and Greta Thunberg have written to Shell criticising its “callous and vindictive” lawsuit against Greenpeace after activists occupied a moving oil platform last year.

In one of the biggest legal threats inthe environmental charity’s 50-year history Shell is suing it for $1m (£790,000) in damages, with costs that could run into the millions.

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Global witness analysis suggests 11.5 million deaths could be caused by burning of fuel produced by 2050

The emissions from burning oil and gas produced by the world’s leading fossil fuel companies could cause millions of excess heat deaths before the end of the century, according to a new analysis.

The study from Global Witness found that the combined emissions from fossil fuels produced by Shell, BP, TotalEnergies, ExxonMobil and Chevron up to 2050 could result in 11.5 million excess deaths from heat by 2100.

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Energy company now says it aims for 15-20% reduction by 2030, rather than previous target of 20%

The energy company Shell has watered down one of its climate ambitions as it prepares to keep its oil production stable while growing its liquified natural gas business.

The company used its latest energy transition strategy to warn that it may slow the pace of its emissions reductions this decade, saying that it now wants to reduce the carbon emissions intensity of the energy it sells by 15-20% by 2030, compared with its previous target of 20%. The target is measured against 2016.

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