Proactive Investors - Shell’s new boss Wael Sawan has already endeared himself to City folk by showing he cares a lot less for the greening process started by his predecessor.
Instead, it’s back to oil and gas exploration and production basics with the reward thus far of a record high for the share price and fury from environmentalists.
More of the same is likely next week with the oil giant's third-quarter update that analysts say is likely to reveal another huge pile of profits and even more of the forward budget given over to fossil fuels.
As AJ Bell points out, Shell PLC (LON:SHEL) is now once again the biggest stock in the FTSE 100 by market capitalisation, with the repivot towards fossil fuels being aided by an upward spike in the oil price due to the Israel/Gaza crisis.
Adjusted earnings were US$9.6 billion in quarter one and US$5.1 billion in quarter two with the benchmark comparison from the third quarter in 2022 of US$9.5 billion, notes AJ Bell.
Some US$8 billion was returned to shareholders in the first half alone via buybacks, with US$4 billion in dividends on top.
“Shell (LON:RDSa) also launched a new, $3 billion buyback for the third quarter and markets will be looking to see if the dividend goes up again,” says the wealth platform owner.
One thing to note will be any comments on M&A, Exxon (NYSE:XOM) and Chevron (NYSE:CVX) have recently announced US$50 billion deals and with Shell now worth £170bn+ it might decide it's time to join the party.