Royal Dutch/Shell Group reported a 51 per cent rise in second-quarter profits today but said it would not buy back more shares this year.
Shell's net profit for the second quarter, adjusted to reflect the current cost of supply, surged to $3.34 billion, helped by higher margins for fuel refining and marketing and higher natural gas prices in the United States.
Although the rise in profits came in above market forecasts, Shell shares edged up only 0.25 per cent amid some disappointment on the buyback front.
Shell, the world's second-largest oil firm, is the first of the world's top three oil companies to publish second-quarter results. World leader Exxon Mobil and number three BP follow next week.
Those companies have been producing some of the largest quarterly profits ever recorded by publicly traded companies, helped by oil prices that have soared on the back of war in Iraq and supply disruptions in Nigeria and Venezuela.
Shell said oil prices for the second half of 2003 would depend on oil cartel OPEC's response to the return of Iraqi exports to the markets and on the state of the global economy.
Some analysts speculated that the Shell decision against buying back more shares might signal activity on the takeover front. Last year, Shell bought UK rival Enterprise Oil.
However, Shell's chairman, Mr Philip Watts, said the decision would help it save cash to continue growing its dividend above inflation.
Shell's London-listed shares have lost about 1 per cent in value since the start of 2003. They have also underperformed the Dow Jones Global Titans Index, which groups the world's 50 largest companies, by about 7 per cent in that time.