Shell Misses Profit Target, Still Raises Dividends

British oil giant Shell (NYSE:SHEL) on Thursday reported a significant drop in annual profit, citing higher exploration writeoffs, lower trading margins and weaker crude prices over the final three months of the year.Shell posted adjusted earnings of $23.72 billion for the full-year 2024, compared to annual profit of $28.25 billion a year earlier.Analysts had expected Shell’s full-year 2024 net profit to come in at $24.71 billion, according to an LSEG-compiled consensus. A separate forecast from analysts polled by Vara Research expected full-year profit to come in at $24.11 billion.The energy major posted weaker-than-anticipated adjusted earnings of $3.66 billion for the final quarter of 2024.Shell announced a 4% increase in dividend per share and launched another share buyback program of $3.5 billion, which is expected to be completed over the next three months.Speaking to the media Thursday, Shell CEO Wael Sawan described 2024 as a “very strong year,” one which gave the company a platform “to do everything we said we were going to do.” Asked whether it was time for Shell to move its listing from London to New York to close the valuation gap on its U.S. peers, Sawan said the firm was “always reviewing headquarter listings and the like.”However, “there is no live discussion at the moment on this in Shell because our number one priority is to make sure that we unlock the full potential of this company,” Sawan noted.SHEL shares marched $1.51, or 2.3%, to $66.29.