Shell (RDS.A) Q1 Earnings Surpass, Lowers Dividend Payout

An Earnings Beat: Europe’s largest oil company Royal Dutch Shell plc (RDS-A - Free Report) reported earnings per ADS (on a current cost of supplies basis, excluding items – the market’s preferred measure) of 74 cents, above the Zacks Consensus Estimate of 51 cents.

Estimate Revision Trend & Surprise History: The stock had seen the Zacks Consensus Estimate for first-quarter earnings remain same over the last 7 days.

Coming to earnings surprise history, the integrated energy company has surpassed the Zacks Consensus Estimate on two occasions and missed in the other two, the average positive surprise being 1.80%. This is shown in the chart below:

Royal Dutch Shell PLC Price and EPS Surprise

Royal Dutch Shell PLC price-eps-surprise | Royal Dutch Shell PLC Quote

Revenues Down: Revenues of $61 billion were 29% below the first-quarter 2019 sales of $85.7 billion.

Key Stats: Upstream segment recorded a profit of $291 million (excluding items) during the quarter, down 82% from the $1.6 billion (adjusted) achieved in the year-ago period. Shell’s upstream volumes averaged 2,710 thousand oil-equivalent barrels per day (MBOE/d), down 5% from the year-ago period. At $46.53 per barrel, the group’s worldwide realized liquids prices were 19% below the year-earlier levels while natural gas prices were down 20%.

In the Oil Products segment, the Anglo-Dutch super-major reported adjusted income of $1.4 billion, 6% less than the year-ago period.

The Integrated Gas unit reported adjusted income of $2.1 billion, down 17% from the $2.6 billion in January-March quarter of 2019.

Meanwhile, the Chemicals segment recorded a profit of $148 million (excluding items) during the quarter, down 67% from the $451 million (adjusted) achieved in the year-ago period.

The oil major’s operating cash flow surged 72% from the year-earlier level to $14.9 billion.

Dividend Update: Royal Dutch Shell cut its quarterly dividend to 16 cents from 47 cents.

Zacks Rank: Currently, Royal Dutch Shell carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold).