Milan —
As the industry recovers, investors are demanding higher returns and Shell has taken another step towards giving them what they want. After slashing its dividend last year, the company went ahead with a planned 4% increase to the payout. It also managed to pay off $4.1bn of net debt, moving closer to the level of borrowing that will allow it to return extra cash to shareholders.
“The group is well on track to reduce net debt and start additional returns to investors later in the year,” Barclays Bank said in a note. Shell’s B-shares rose 1.9% to 1,343p as of 9.28am in London.
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