Royal Dutch Shell Logs Rising Quarterly Net Profit

Royal Dutch Shell said Thursday that net profit rose slightly in the third quarter of its financial year, when the Anglo-Dutch energy major was buffeted by lower oil prices.

Earnings after taxation added just one percent to $5.9 billion (5.3 billion euros) in the three months to the end of September from a year earlier, Shell said in a results statement.

Profit on a current cost-of-supplies (CCS) basis -- stripping out changes to the value of oil and gas inventories -- sank 15 percent to $4.8 billion in the reporting period, it added.

That reflected lower prices for oil, gas and liquefied natural gas (LNG). Turnover was almost 12 percent lower at $81.2 billion.

"This quarter we continued to deliver strong cash flow and earnings, despite sustained lower oil and gas prices, and chemicals margins," said Chief Executive Ben van Beurden in the earnings release.

"Our earnings reflect the resilience of our market-facing businesses and their ability to capitalise on market conditions," he added, but also sounded a note of caution over the "prevailing weak macroeconomic conditions and challenging outlook".

In contrast, rival BP had revealed Tuesday that it suffered a net loss in the third quarter, on the back of a huge charge that was linked to the sale of assets, including its Alaskan business.