Shell to cut refining capacity by 15 per cent, axe another 1,000 jobs

04 Feb 2010

1

Royal Dutch Shell will sell 15 per cent of its refinery capacity in Europe and the Americas and cut a further 1,000 jobs after reporting a slump in annual profits on the back of a 75 per cent drop in profit the October-December 2009 quarter.

Shell reported a 75-per cent fall in fourth-quarter 2009 earnings to $1.2 billion compared with a 33 per cent increase in profits at rival BP.

The company, however, announced a 5-per cent increase in the final-quarter dividend, but said the next three-monthly payout would be held steady at $0.42 per share.

Shell said its full-year 2009 earnings fell 69 per cent to $9.8 billion.

Shell, which cut some 5,000 jobs or 10 per cent of its workforce (See: Shell to cut 5,000 jobs after poor Q3 results) and reduced its underlying operating costs by some $1 billion in the fourth quarter 2009, and by over $2 billion in 2009 as a whole, said it would slash another 1,000 jobs and reduce underlying costs by another $1 billion in the current year. 

"For 2010, we are targeting a further underlying cost reduction of at least $1 billion, and a reduction of some 1,000 employees," Peter Voser, chief executive of Shell, said, adding that much of that would come from downstream and ongoing cost cutting initiatives.

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