LONDON: Shell reported on Thursday a record first-quarter profit of $9.13 billion, boosted by higher oil and gas prices and a strong performance of its trading division.

       Shell joins sector rivals, including BP and TotalEnergies, which also saw a sharp rise in profits driven by energy prices and strong trading. Norway's Equinor, a major seller of gas in Europe, reported record earnings on Wednesday.

       Shell said that its dividend payments and share repurchases reached $5.4 billion in the quarter, part of its plan to buy back $8.5 billion shares in the first half of the year.

       Its dividend rose to 25 cents per share as planned.

       It said that in the current environment it expects shareholder distributions to exceed 30% of cashflow in the second half of the year.

       Shell said it wrote down $3.9 billion post-tax as a result of its decision to exit its operations in Russia following Moscow's invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24. It is also winding down oil and gas trading with Russia.

       First-quarter adjusted earnings rose 43% from the previous quarter to $9.13 billion, above an average analyst forecast provided by the company for a $8.67 billion profit.

       That compares with earnings of $3.23 billion a year earlier. - Reuters