Shell plc declared a $3.5 billion buyback program in reporting its first-quarter earnings Friday, making this the 14th consecutive quarter of at least $3 billion of buybacks.
London-based Shell reported adjusted earnings for the first quarter of $5.6 billion, up 52% from the quarter before. Citing a “resilient balance sheet,” the company reported adjusted EBITDA for first-quarter 2025 was $15.3 billion, compared to $14.3 billion in fourth-quarter 2024.
“Our strong performance and resilient balance sheet give us the confidence to commence another $3.5 billion of buybacks for the next three months, consistent with the strategic direction we set out at our Capital Markets Day in March," CEO Wael Sawan said.
Sawan’s comments on Friday were followed by a Bloomberg report this weekend that the oil giant is looking to purchase its convenience store and fuel company rival bp, Chicago.
Regarding potential acquisitions, Shell CFO Sinead Gorman told investors, “We have that option to be able to go there,” according to a transcript from financial services site AlphaSense. “We’ve positioned the balance sheet such that we have more than $35 billion of cash.”
Turning to the convenience-retail segment, on April 28, Shell finalized the acquisition of the Fuel Rewards loyalty program.
Houston-based Equilon Enterprises, doing business as Shell Oil Products US, acquired the Fuel Rewards loyalty program from PDI Technologies and Excentus Corp., a leading provider of loyalty and coalition marketing solutions for the U.S. retail, grocery, national brands and convenience retail segments that PDI acquired in 2018.
The oil giant’s acquisition of the loyalty program will allow the company to further develop the program and to deliver future enhancements and value to wholesalers and members, Shell said in a statement.
“We are excited and ready to take ownership of the Fuel Rewards loyalty program and push it to new levels of success and growth,” said Barbara Stoyko, senior vice president of Shell Mobility and Convenience Americas. “We appreciate the collaboration with PDI Technologies over the past 13 years to build this award-winning program that has delivered great value to our customers and wholesalers.”
- Shell is No. 38 on CSP’s 2025 Top 40 Update to the 2024 Top 202 ranking of U.S. c-store chains by store count. Watch for the full 2025 Top 202 ranking in the June issue of CSP magazine and in CSP Daily News.
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