London – Royal Dutch Shell says first-quarter earnings more than doubled as energy prices rebounded and the company benefited from a cost-cutting drive.
The Anglo-Dutch energy giant said on Thursday that profit adjusted for changes in the value of inventories and excluding one-time items rose to $3.75 billion (R50.07 billion) from $1.55 billion in the same period last year.
Net income jumped to $3.54 billion from $484 million.
Chief executive Ben van Beurden says Shell has either announced or completed $20 billion of asset sales.
He says Shell is “rapidly transforming through the consistent and disciplined execution of our strategy.”
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Brent crude averaged $53.69 a barrel in the quarter, up 58 percent from a year earlier.