Oil giant Shell has announced better-than-expected profits for the third quarter of 2025, revealing plans to return a further $3.5bn (£2.65bn) to its shareholders.
The FTSE 100 company reported adjusted earnings of $5.43 billion (£4.1 billion) for the third quarter of 2025, surpassing analyst guidance.
It said this represented a 27 per cent increase on the previous quarter but was lower than the $6 billion (£4.6 billion) reported over the same period a year earlier
The energy firm attributed the improved performance to higher sales volumes and enhanced trading margins.
It also noted a $161 million benefit from favourable tax write-offs over the quarter.
Shell’s integrated gas business proved particularly robust, with income rising by 28 per cent and earnings by 23 per cent for the period.
However, these positive impacts were somewhat mitigated by increased depreciation, depletion, and amortisation expenses.
Elsewhere, the firm’s renewables business returned to profitability, as losses across large parts of the division were offset by improvements in trading and marketing.
Chief executive Wael Sawan said: “Shell delivered another strong set of results, with clear progress across our portfolio and excellent performance in our marketing business and deepwater assets in the Gulf of America and Brazil.
“Despite continued volatility, our strong delivery this quarter enables us to commence another $3.5 billion of buybacks for the next three months.”
The results come a day after Norwegian rival Equinor reported a sharper-than-expected fall in profitability.
Shell has performed ahead of many energy market competitors over the past year, with its shares up by almost 16 per cent over the last 12 months.
