Oil giant Shell has said that profits rocketed to 39.9 billion dollars (£32.2 billion). It represented the company’s highest profit in its 115-year history and surpassed the expectations of industry experts and double the profits it declared last year.
It comes amid continued questions over the scale of windfall taxes on energy producers, which have benefited from higher prices. Paul Nowak, general secretary of the TUC, said the profits were “obscene” and “an insult to working families”.
The London-listed oil major told investors that adjusted earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) leapt 53% against the previous year to £68.1bn, after energy prices were catapulted higher following the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When taxes were included, the company declared annual profits of £32.2bn.
