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Shell Pumps a Torrent of Cash as Takeover, Cost Cuts Pay Off

  • Debt falls for a second quarter as profit more than doubles
  • New projects will turn Shell into cash machine: Brewin Dolphin
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Royal Dutch Shell Plc showed it has adapted to a world of lower oil prices, generating a surge in cash that allowed it to pay dividends while reducing debt.

The Anglo-Dutch company’s first-quarter performance helps validate Chief Executive Officer Ben Van Beurden’s $54 billion purchase of BG Group Plc -- for which some shareholders complained he overpaid -- and the deep spending cuts and asset sales he undertook to protect the balance sheet.