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Shell Fourth-Quarter Profit Plunges as Oil's Slump Deepens

  • Fourth-quarter adjusted earnings seen as low as $1.6 billion
  • BG also reports results, with output expected to beat forecast
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Davos Leaders Sum up Oil's Plunging Price

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Royal Dutch Shell Plc, which is buying BG Group Plc in the industry’s largest deal in a decade, expects fourth-quarter profit to drop at least 42 percent after the rout in crude prices deepened. 

Profit adjusted for one-time items and inventory changes probably shrank to $1.6 billion to $1.9 billion, Shell said Wednesday in a preliminary earnings statement. That compares with the $1.8 billion average estimate of nine analysts surveyed by Bloomberg, and profit of $3.3 billion a year earlier.