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Hello, I am Ben van Beurden, the CEO of Royal Dutch Shell.
Today we updated on our financial results and the financial priorities for 2014. Let me give you the highlights.
Our ambitious growth drive in recent years has yielded a step change in Shell’s portfolio and options, with more growth to come.
But at the same time we have lost some momentum in operational delivery, and we can sharpen up in a number of areas.
We must improve our financial performance,
achieve better capital efficiency and strengthen
our operational performance and project delivery.
2014 will be a year where we are changing emphasis as we moderate our spending and growth plans,
increase our divestments, and restructure some parts of the company.
Going forward, I want Shell to be measured on our competitive performance.
We want to generate attractive returns for shareholders and this means returns at a project level
and returns at the bottom line which of course drive Shell’s dividends.
We updated on our 2013 results earlier this month.
The numbers haven’t changed, and let me summarise this for you.
Full year 2013 CCS earnings excluding identified items were $19 billion and earnings per share decreased
by 23% from 2012 with lower earnings from both Upstream and Downstream.
Cash flow from operations was $40 billion for the year.
We distributed around $11 billion of dividends in 2013 and buy backs were $5 billion for the year.
When final volumes are reported in the 2013 Annual Report we expect a headline reserves replacement ratio
for the year at around 131%.
Our financial performance can improve here.
This means a more competitive picture on returns as well as cash flow and over the medium term,
addressing underperforming areas of the business more robustly.
We need to further improve on our capital efficiency.
There are some hard choices to be made here, more asset sales,
$15 billion in 2014 and 2015 combined
and moderating the pace of growth investment after a strong growth drive in recent years.
Our strategy is designed to deliver through-cycle growth in cash flow and competitive returns
and Shell’s dividend track record underscores our commitment to shareholders.
Thank you.