Shell boosts dividend after beating Q1 estimates

Royal Dutch Shell capped a strong first quarter reporting season for oil majors with better-than-expected results which were boosted by gas earnings, while shareholders were rewarded with a higher dividend. Shares in the company were up more than 3 per ent at 1403 BST to be among the top performers in the FTSE 100. Shareholders have urged big oil companies such as BP and Shell to control spending and give back cash because of concerns over rising costs in the oil and gas industry. Shell is planning to divest $15 billion (8.90 billion pounds) worth of assets in 2014/15 to improve profitability and payouts. The company said on Wednesday its cash flow increased to $14 billion from $11.6 billion in the first quarter of 2013 and $6 billion in the fourth quarter of 2013. That allowed the oil major to announce a first-quarter 2014 dividend of $0.47 per ordinary share, an increase of 4 per cent year-on-year, according to a news agency.