Thousands of jobs on the line as Shell suffers 80% slump in profits

More job losses are on the cards at Royal Dutch Shell which reported an 80% plunge in profits on Thursday. Fears of further cutbacks at the Anglo-Dutch giant were raised after the slump in the price of oil led to earnings for 2015 falling to £2.6bn ($3.8bn) from £13.1bn ($19bn) the year before. Chief executive Ben van Beurden said Shell was in the middle of “substantial changes”, slashing costs and investment in response to the slump. He added: “Shell will take further impactful decisions to manage through the oil price downturn, should conditions warrant that.”

While we’re not entirely comfortable with a negative number, it’s not the most important thing today

Shell chief financial officer Simon Henry stays upbeat

The industry has been hammered by the collapse in the world energy market, which has seen the price of a barrel of Brent crude dive from $115 in the summer of 2014 to about $30 at the start of this year. But the gloomy results from Shell come days after rival BP slumped to a £3.6bn ($5.2bn) annual loss. Shell is close to a £36bn ($52bn) merger with exploration group BG, which will see 10,000 jobs going across the two companies. Mr van Beurden expressed optimism about the coming merger. He said: “The completion of the BG transaction, which we are expecting in a matter of weeks, marks the start of a new chapter in Shell, rejuvenating the company, and improving shareholder returns.”

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