Royal Dutch Shell Plc reported a 14 percent rise in fourth quarter profits on Thursday, as high oil prices outweighed dismal industry-wide margins in its refining business.
Europe’s largest oil company by market capitalization said its current cost of supply (CCS) net income was $6.46 billion, helped by one-off gains from the sale of assets.
Excluding one-offs, the result rose 18 percent to $4.85 billion, shy of an average forecast of $5.17 billion from a Reuters poll of nine analysts.
Brent crude prices averaged $109 per barrel last quarter, up from $88 a year before.
CCS earnings strip out unrealised gains or losses related to changes in the value of inventories, and as such are comparable with net income under U.S. accounting rules.
