EARNINGS : Lower Prices Cut Shell Profits
<i> From Times wire services</i>
LONDON —
Lower oil prices in the first half of 1990 bit sharply into Royal Dutch/Shell Group’s profits, slicing net income by 40%, the Anglo-Dutch oil giant reported today.
The sharp rise in crude oil prices after Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait a week ago is not reflected in Shell’s latest figures but is expected to influence results for the full year.
Prices were weak in much of the first six months of the year because OPEC overproduction glutted the market.
Net income for the first six months of 1990 fell to $2.59 billion from $4.29 billion in the same 1989 period.
“The outlook for the full year is obviously extremely uncertain and almost entirely dependent on how events in the Middle East unfold,” Shell said.
