Shell third-quarter profit beats expectations

By Shadia Nasralla and Stephanie Kelly

LONDON, Oct 30 (Reuters) - Shell SHEL.L beat third-quarter profit forecasts on Thursday, helped by strong results from its gas division, and said it would maintain the pace of its share buyback programme at $3.5 billion over the next three months.

The oil major's adjusted earnings, its definition of net profit, fell 10% year-on-year to $5.4 billion in July to September due to lower prices. But that topped analysts' average estimate of $5.09 billion in a poll provided by the company.

The buyback pledge marks the 16th consecutive quarter when Shell will have returned at least $3 billion to shareholders by repurchasing shares. By the end of the year, Shell will have bought back more than a quarter of its shares in four years.

The buybacks, together with $2.1 billion in dividends, take shareholder payouts over the last four quarters to 48% of operating cash flow, within the company's 40% to 50% target range.

French oil major TotalEnergies TTEF.PA reported on Thursday a 2.4% drop in third-quarter earnings, meeting expectations as higher upstream production and improving crude refining margins partially offset lower oil prices.

Adjusted net income at Total slipped to $4.0 billion from the $4.1 billion for the same period last year, in line with an analysts' consensus compiled by LSEG.

SHELL'S GAS, UPSTREAM BUSINESSES BEAT EXPECTATIONS

Shell, the world's largest liquefied natural gas trader, reported quarterly cash flow from operations of $12.2 billion, down from $14.7 billion during the same quarter last year.

Profits at Shell's huge gas unit and oil-focused upstream division both beat expectations but were below last year.

Brent futures averaged around $68 per barrel in the quarter, down from last year's average of around $78 per barrel in the same period, according to LSEG data and Reuters calculations.

The benchmark Dutch front-month gas contract at the TTF hub TRNLTTFMc1 averaged 33.04 euros per megawatt hour in the quarter, versus 35.6 euros per MWh in the third quarter of 2024.

Front-month gas futures NGc1 on the New York Mercantile Exchange averaged $3.07 per million British thermal units in the quarter, versus $2.23 per mmBtu in the same quarter last year.