Royal Dutch Shell had one mission yesterday: to persuade investors they should own its shares. “You will see why we are a compelling investment case,” declared Ben van Beurden, chief executive, as he embarked on its third-quarter results presentation (Emily Gosden writes).
Shell certainly has some convincing to do. Long one of the biggest dividend payers in the FTSE, it slashed its payout by two thirds in April in response to the pandemic. In the second quarter it fell to a record $18.4 billion loss. And while oil prices have recovered somewhat from the worst of the rout, Shell’s shares have fallen back to their lowest level in a quarter of a century. Down about 60 per cent this year, its B shares were changing
