Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday reported 52 per cent drop in profit at $ 12.51 billion for 2009 and plans to slash about 1,000 jobs this year as part of its cost cutting drive.
Shell’s profit stood at $ 26.27 billion in 2008, the company said in a statement. Its revenues for the year 2009 almost halved to $ 278.18 billion from $ 458.36 billion in the previous year.
“Our fourth quarter 2009 results were impacted by weak global economy. Oil prices have increased compared to a year ago, but gas prices and refining margins have declined sharply, because of weaker demand and high industry inventory levels. We are not assuming that there will be a quick recovery, and the outlook for 2010 is uncertain,” Royal Dutch Shell Chief Executive Officer Peter Voser said.
“For 2010, we are targeting a further underlying cost reduction of at least USD one billion and a reduction of some 1,000 employees,” Mr. Voser said.
As a result of company’s cost cutting actions in last year, some 5,000 employees would leave Shell. The company has cut underlying operating costs by some $ 1 billion in fourth quarter and by over $ 2 billion in 2009 against 2008.
In the Q4 of 2009, Shell earned a profit of USD 1.96 billion. It had posted a loss of $ 2.81 billion in the year-ago period. The company has also announced Q4 dividend of $ 0.42 per share, it added.
