Energy giant Shell posted record profits last year thanks to high oil and gas prices. Adjusted profit rose to 39.87 billion US dollars (36.22 billion euros), as the group announced on Thursday in The Hague. This means that the profit has roughly doubled within a year.

The last quarter of the year, which was better than expected by analysts, is also partly responsible for the record profit. Thus, the dividend for the fourth quarter is a little higher than expected: Shell pays its investors 28.75 cents per share, which is 15 percent more than in the same quarter last year.

In addition, the oil multinational has again announced a share buyback program. Management plans to buy back $4 billion of shares. There had already been plenty of share buybacks in the past strong year.

In the final quarter of 2022, Shell increased adjusted profit by more than 50 percent to $9.81 billion within a year. Analysts were pleasantly surprised as oil and gas prices fell slightly compared to the third quarter. Net income attributable to shareholders was $10.5 billion in the final quarter, down slightly from a year ago.