Record £9bn profit for Shell
Oil giant Shell announced record annual profits for a UK company of £9.3bn (€14.2bn) today.
The figure, which equates to £25m (€36.2m) a day, was achieved after the group benefited from a soaring oil price and strong margins in refining.
The previous UK record of £7.7bn (€11.1m) was set by bank HSBC, although the measures used by the market to judge profitability are different.
Today's earnings figure, which is the measure of profitability used by market analysts, represented a 38% rise on a year earlier. The bottom-line net income figure was $18.54bn (£9.83bn / €14.2bn), up 48% on 2003.
With oil prices in New York at a peak of $55.17 a barrel in late October, the Anglo-Dutch company saw a 204% jump in fourth-quarter profits to $5.13bn (£2.72bn / €3.9bn).
The profits rush is expected to be mirrored by BP next week, although neither UK company can match the $25bn (£13.27bn / €19.2bn) unveiled by US-based Esso owner ExxonMobil on Monday.
