Canadian Press: Shell Canada has best-ever annual profit of $1.29B on sales of $11.29B: “The Canadian subsidiary of the Royal Dutch/Shell group said Thursday that the year's profit gain was "driven by strong commodity prices and refining margins, and a significant contribution from the Athabasca oilsands project." (ShellNews.net) 27 Jan 05 

January 27, 2005

CALGARY (CP) - Shell Canada Ltd. had its best year to date in 2004 with net earnings of $1.29 billion, an increase of almost 60 per cent from 2003.

The Canadian subsidiary of the Royal Dutch/Shell group said Thursday that the year's profit gain was "driven by strong commodity prices and refining margins, and a significant contribution from the Athabasca oilsands project."

Fourth-quarter net earnings slipped to $182 million, 66 cents per share, compared the year-ago figure of $190 million, 69 cents per share, as charges related to Shell's long-term incentive plan and other accounting items cut profits in the latest quarter by $128 million.

Fourth-quarter cash flow was $604 million, up from $484 million a year ago, as revenue surged to $3.08 billion from $2.31 billion.

The year's $1.29-billion profit, on revenue of $11.29 billion, was worth $4.68 per share, up from $810 million or $2.95 per share on 2003 revenue of $9.12 billion.

Capital investment and exploration spending for the year totalled $1.02 billion, up from $759 million in 2003.

"Strong commodity prices, record performance by oil products and a solid contribution from oilsands delivered record production, earnings and cash flows," stated Clive Mather, president and CEO of Shell Canada (TSX:SHC).

"The results demonstrate the strength of our integrated operations and provide us with the foundation to pursue development and growth opportunities more aggressively, which will enhance shareholder value in the future."

http://www.canada.com/businesscentre/story.html?id=a4118220-a651-4aca-a232-34229bc38bf8