据ICIS-MRC网站7月30日莫斯科报道，根据英国《金融时报》(the Financial Times)报道，荷兰皇家壳牌(Royal Dutch Shell)已将股息提高近40%，并启动了一项20亿美元的股票回购计划。这家能源巨头正利用能源价格走高的机会，试图重新吸引投资者。
周四该集团公布，在油价回升至每桶70美元以上的推动下，第二季度收益大幅增长。这比分析师预期的更为激进，显示出该能源巨头重振萎靡不振的股价的压力。
法国能源巨头道达尔(TotalEnergis)周四也公布了强劲的业绩，实现了五年来最高的半年收益，并将利用部分现金流进行股票回购。投资者仍对石油行业保持警惕，该行业自 2015 年以来受到两次价格暴跌的沉重打击，同时面临石油需求可能见顶的长期挑战，以及政府应对气候变化的行动日益增多。
壳牌股价周四上涨3.5%，但较两年前油价小幅下跌时仍下跌逾40%。该公司曾在4月表示，股息可能在2021年剩余时间保持不变，此前该公司在上一份财报中小幅上调了股息。
该公司首席执行官范伯登( Benvan Beurden )表示，有信心提高股息。我们觉得我们的股息需要重新设定，因为我们的派息和自由现金流之间的差距实在太大了。我们希望通过将其永久化，向市场表明我们对前景和现金流的信心。
据分析师表示，对现金回笼的关注是为了表明，在能源价格强劲的情况下，能源巨头仍拥有巨大的自由现金流，有能力提高对渴望收益的投资者的回报。加拿大皇家银行资本市场(RBC Capital Markets)的Biraj Borkhataria表示，壳牌增加分销是非常积极的。
壳牌的股息将从第二季度起每股上升至24美分，尽管仍远低于疫情前的水平。去年，该公司将股息下调了三分之二，至16美分，这是自二战以来的首次下调，因为新冠疫情引发的封锁打击了能源需求，并将油价推至每桶20美元以下。该公司表示，将股息每年提高4%的政策“保持不变”。
投资者对回购的预期更为普遍，他们希望看到能源公司返还现金，而不是增加投资。然而，普遍预测，回购将接近15亿美元。壳牌表示，今年的资本支出将保持在220亿美元以下。欧洲石油和天然气巨头正试图平衡投资者对更高回报的需求和调整商业模式以适应气候目标的压力。
范伯登表示，他越来越相信油价在中期内仍将保持强劲，部分原因是该行业投资不足。但他表示，任何计划中的资本支出增加，都将侧重于公司推动氢等清洁燃料的战略。
第二季度，壳牌公布调整后净利润为55亿美元，略高于分析师预期的50亿美元，高于第一季度的32亿美元。第二季度营运现金流(不包括营运资本流动)达到142亿美元，超过分析师预期的121亿美元。道达尔经调整后的净收入环比增长15%，至35亿美元。
郝芬 译自 ICIS-MRC
原文如下:
Shell raises dividend by almost 40% amid soaring oil prices
Royal Dutch Shell has raised its dividend almost 40 per cent and launched a USD2bn share buyback scheme, as the energy major takes advantage of stronger energy prices to try to attract back investors, said The Financial Times.
Thursday’s moves, which came as the group reported a jump in second-quarter earnings helped by oil’s recovery above USD70 a barrel, were more aggressive than analysts had anticipated and show the pressure on energy majors to resurrect flagging share prices.
France’s TotalEnergies also reported strong results on Thursday with its highest half-year earnings in five years, and will use some of its cash flow for share buybacks. Investors remain wary of a sector that has been hard hit by two price slumps since 2015 while facing the long-term challenge of a possible peak in oil demand and increasing government action to tackle climate change.
Shell’s shares rose 3.5 per cent on Thursday but remain more than 40 per cent down from where they were two years ago, when oil prices were marginally lower. The company had said in April the dividend would probably remain unchanged for the rest of 2021 after raising it slightly at its previous earning report.
“There is an element of confidence in raising the dividend,” said Ben van Beurden, chief executive. "We felt that our dividend needed to be reset as the gap between our dividend payout and free cash flow was simply too large. We wanted to signal to the market the confidence we have in our prospects and cash flows by making it permanent."
Analysts said the focus on returning cash was an effort to demonstrate that the energy majors remain huge generators of free cash flow when energy prices are strong, with the ability to bolster payouts to yield-hungry investors. "Shell’s stepping up distributions is extremely positive," said Biraj Borkhataria at RBC Capital Markets.
Shell’s dividend will rise to 24 cents a share from the second quarter, although it remains well below its pre-pandemic level. Last year the company slashed it by two-thirds to 16 cents, the first reduction since the second world war, as pandemic-induced lockdowns hit energy demand and pushed oil prices below USD20 a barrel. The policy of increasing dividends 4 per cent a year “remains unchanged”, the company said.
The buybacks were more widely anticipated, with investors keen to see energy companies returning cash rather than raising investment. Many had predicted, however, that the buyback would be closer to USD1.5bn. Shell said it would keep holding capital expenditure below USD22bn for the year. Oil and gas majors in Europe are trying to balance investor demand for higher returns and pressure to adjust their business models to align with climate goals.
Van Beurden said he was increasingly confident oil prices would remain strong in the medium term, partly resulting from under-investment in the sector, but indicated any increases to planned capital expenditure would be weighted towards the company’s strategy of boosting cleaner fuels such as hydrogen.
In the second quarter, Shell reported adjusted net profit of $5.5bn, slightly ahead of analyst expectations of USD5bn and up from USD3.2bn in the first quarter. Cash flow from operations, excluding working capital movements, hit USD14.2bn in the second quarter, exceeding analyst expectations for USD12.1bn. Total’s adjusted net income rose 15 per cent quarter-on-quarter to USD3.5bn.
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