In the Big-Oil Buyback Splurge, Shell Is Especially Generous


在乌克兰战争导致能源价格持续走高的背景下，大西洋两岸的石油和天然气巨头像印钞机一样大赚特赚。在向股东返还的收益占市值份额比例上，伦敦上市的壳牌显得格外诱人。


壳牌成为最新一家公布2022年创纪录业绩的大型能源公司。

在乌克兰战争导致能源价格持续走高的背景下，大西洋两岸的石油和天然气巨头像印钞机一样大赚特赚。在向股东返还的收益占市值份额比例上，伦敦上市的壳牌(Shell PLC, SHEL)显得格外诱人。 6park.com
Oil-and-gas giants on both sides of the Atlantic are printing cash as energy prices stay higher for longer due to the war in Ukraine. Based on the share of its market value it is handing back to shareholders, London-listed Shell appears particularly enticing. 6park.com
   
周四，壳牌成为最新一家公布2022年创纪录业绩的大型能源公司。美国竞争对手雪佛龙公司(Chevron Corp., CVX)和埃克森美孚(Exxon Mobil Corp., XOM)在最近几天公布了丰厚的利润。壳牌的调整后盈利增加了逾一倍，达399亿美元，打破了2008年创下的纪录。它还比2014年多赚了170亿美元，当时布伦特油价与今天的水平相当。 6park.com
On Thursday, Shell became the latest big energy company to report record results for 2022. U.S. competitors Chevron and Exxon Mobil have posted bumper profits in recent days. Shell more than doubled its adjusted earnings to $39.9 billion, breaking the previous record set in 2008. It also made $17 billion more than it did in 2014, when Brent prices were at similar levels to today. 6park.com
  
原因之一是其庞大的液化天然气业务在年底时表现强劲。综合天然气部门的出色业绩推动第四财季的盈利达98亿美元，比分析师预期的高出近20亿美元。该公司股价上涨了2%。与疲软的第三财季相比，这是一个可喜的变化，当时由于能源价格波动，对冲策略出现问题，拖累了集团利润。 6park.com
One reason is a strong end to the year for its huge liquefied-natural-gas business. A stellar result from the integrated gas division helped push fourth-quarter earnings to $9.8 billion, almost $2 billion higher than analysts had expected. The shares rose 2%. The good news was a welcome change from the weak third quarter, when hedges that went sour due to volatile energy prices dragged on group profit. 6park.com
  
壳牌去年总共向股东派发了260亿美元。经纪公司Bernstein的数据显示，该公司2022年的总分配收益率（总派息和回购总额与平均市值的比率）为13%，而埃克森美孚和雪佛龙分别为8%和7%。 6park.com
In total, Shell handed $26 billion to its shareholders last year. The company’s all-in distribution yield, measuring total dividends and buybacks as a share of average market value, was 13% in 2022, according to brokerage Bernstein, compared with 8% and 7%, respectively, at Exxon Mobil and Chevron.



这一差异在一定程度上反映了欧洲和美国的石油天然气股票之间不断扩大的估值差距。壳牌的远期市盈率不到7倍，而埃克森和雪佛龙的远期市盈率约为11倍。投资者对于壳牌和英国石油公司(BP PLC, BP)推动可再生能源的发展能否带来与化石燃料相同的回报怀有疑虑。 6park.com
Some of that difference reflects the widening valuation gap between European and U.S. oil-and-gas stocks. Shell changes hands for under seven times forward earnings, compared with roughly 11 for Exxon and Chevron. Investors are dubious that a push into renewables at Shell and BP can deliver the same returns as fossil fuels. 6park.com
  
但欧洲的综合能源公司也在加大股票回购力度。2022年，他们斥资420亿美元回购股票，相比之下2021年为90亿美元。 6park.com
But there has also been a major step-up in share buybacks at Europe’s integrated energy companies. In 2022, they spent $42 billion on their own stock, up from $9 billion in 2021.  6park.com
  
只有公司有丰厚的利润，这种情况才能持续。当然，这也符合欧洲公司回购股票的大趋势，尤其是在能源和金融领域。据Bernstein计算，在过去12个月里，平均而言欧洲公司宣布的回购规模相当于其市值的2.4%，美国公司的这一回购比例为2.2%，这是至少20年来欧洲公司在这一指标上首次超过美国公司。 6park.com
That can only last as long as companies are making fat profits. Yet it also fits with a wider trend toward share buybacks among European companies, particularly in the energy and finance sectors. Bernstein calculates that European companies announced buybacks equivalent to 2.4% of their market capitalization on average over the last 12 months, compared with 2.2% for U.S. companies—the first time in at least 20 years that the region has overtaken U.S. equities on this measure. 6park.com
  
目前，现金仍在源源不断地流入。壳牌将第四财季的股息提高了15%，并表示从现在到第一财季业绩公布前，将回购40亿美元股票。欧洲的能源巨头们仍需努力缩小与美国竞争对手之间不断扩大的估值差距。慷慨的股东回报应该会有所帮助。 6park.com
For now, the cash is still coming. Shell increased its fourth-quarter dividend by 15% and said it would buy back $4 billion worth of its shares between now and its first-quarter results. Europe’s energy majors have work to do to close the widening valuation gap with their American competitors. Generous shareholder returns should help. 6park.com