殼牌石油二季度利潤大幅下挫72%

Profits at Royal Dutch Shell fell by 72 per cent in the second quarter as continued weakness in oil and gas prices weighed on the Anglo-Dutch group.

荷蘭皇家殼牌(Royal Dutch Shell)第二季度利潤下降72%，石油和天然氣價格的持續疲軟對這家英荷集團造成了嚴重影響。

The results were much worse than market expectations and will add to the gloom hanging over the industry after weak numbers from BP and Statoil earlier in the week and a renewed dip in oil prices below $45 per barrel.

該結果較市場預期相差甚遠，還會加重籠罩着該行業的陰霾，本週早些時候英國石油(BP)和挪威國家石油公司(Statoil)發佈了疲軟數據，此外油價再度探底，每桶價格不到45美元。

Shell’s steep drop in earnings was especially disappointing for investors because it was the first full quarter after completion of its ￡35bn takeover of BG Group.

殼牌盈利大幅下跌尤其令投資者失望，因爲這是殼牌完成對英國天然氣集團(BG Group)350億美元收購後的第一個完整季度。

Shares in Shell fell 3.1 per cent to ￡19.80 after the results on Thursday morning.

週四上午該消息公佈後，殼牌股價下跌3.1%，至19.80美元。

The addition of BG assets helped lift production by 28 per cent to 3.508m barrels of oil equivalent per day. But this was offset by depreciation charges related to the deal as well as the weak market conditions.

英國天然氣集團的加入將殼牌產量提升了28%，至每天350.8萬桶石油當量。但這一提升被此筆交易相關折舊費以及疲軟的市場環境抵消。

On a current cost of supplies basis — the measure most closely watched by analysts — second quarter earnings were $1.05bn, down from $3.76bn in the same period last year. Analysts’ consensus forecast had been for $2.2bn.

基於當前供應成本——分析師最關注的數據——二季度盈利爲10.5億美元，去年同期爲37.6億美元。分析師此前普遍預期爲22億美元。

Ben van Beurden, chief executive, said low prices “continue to be a significant challenge across the business”, particularly in upstream production. But he insisted integration of BG was going well, while cost cuts were improving underlying performance.

殼牌石油首席執行官範伯登(Ben van Beurden)表示油價低“依然對整個行業形成顯著挑戰”，尤其是對上游生產。但他堅稱對英國天然氣集團的整合進展順利，同時成本削減也提高了基本業績。

There was some comfort for shareholders from a quarterly dividend of 47 cents — unchanged from last year. But the financial strain on Shell was evident in the rise in its debt leverage ratio from 12.7 per cent at this time last year to 28.1 per cent now, mainly as a result of the BG acquisition.

股東的季度股利爲47美分，與去年持平，讓股東得到了一些安慰。但殼牌資金緊張明顯表現在債務槓桿比率的上升，去年此時爲12.7%，現在升到28.1%，這主要是收購英國天然氣集團所致。

Mr van Beurden has committed to a $30bn asset disposal plan to offset the cost of the BG deal but Shell admitted last month that the process could be delayed because of the pressure from low oil prices on asset prices.

範伯登已承諾計劃剝離300億美元資產，以抵消收購英國天然氣集團的成本。但殼牌上個月承認由於低油價對資產價格施加的壓力，該計劃可能被延遲。

Shell said on Thursday that capital expenditure for the full year would be $29bn, compared with combined investment of $47bn by Shell and BG in 2014 — highlighting the squeeze being placed on the group.

殼牌週四表示全年資本開支預計290億美元，殼牌與英國天然氣集團2014年共投資470億美元，兩相對比凸顯殼牌集團負擔沉重。

“We are managing the company through the down-cycle by reducing costs, by delivering on lower and more predictable investment levels, executing our asset sales plans and starting up profitable new projects,” said Mr van Beurden.

範伯登表示：“我們正設法讓公司度過下降週期，方式包括降低管理成本，實現較低的、更可預測的投資水平，執行我們的資產出售計劃，並展開利潤豐厚的新項目。”