Mubasher: Royal Dutch Shell on Tuesday cancelled its scrip-dividend programme from the fourth-quarter of 2017 as it raised its cash generation forecasts.
The British–Dutch oil and gas firm has also reiterated a 2015 share-buyback programme to buy at least $25 billion of shares by 2020.
Shell added that it was raising its cash flow outlook to $30 billion by 2020 from $25 billion, as Brent crude oil price was set at $60 per barrel in 2016.
Moreover, the company carried out a $30 billion divestment program to reduce debt following the acquisition of BG Group and made $2 billion in divestments and another $5 billion in advanced progress, with $23 billion completed.
The Netherlands-based company will maintain reducing debt and cost savings as a priority, as it was targeting to reduce its debt-to-equity ratio to 20%, which stood at 25.4% at the end of September.
Thus, the firm reported that it would deliver 1 million barrels of oil equivalent per day and $10 billion of cash flow from operations of new projects by 2018 at $60 per barrel in 2016 real terms.
Shell is expecting its annual underlying operational expenditure to drop below $38 billion until 2020, while annual capital investment is likely to range between $20 billion and $25 billion.
