Profits at Royal Dutch Shell fell by 72 per cent in the second quarter as continued weakness in oil and gas prices weighed on the Anglo-Dutch group.

荷兰皇家壳牌(Royal Dutch Shell)第二季度利润下降72%，石油和天然气价格的持续疲软对这家英荷集团造成了严重影响。

The results were much worse than market expectations and will add to the gloom hanging over the industry after weak numbers from BP and Statoil earlier in the week and a renewed dip in oil prices below $45 per barrel.

该结果较市场预期相差甚远，还会加重笼罩着该行业的阴霾，本周早些时候英国石油(BP)和挪威国家石油公司(Statoil)发布了疲软数据，此外油价再度探底，每桶价格不到45美元。

Shell’s steep drop in earnings was especially disappointing for investors because it was the first full quarter after completion of its ￡35bn takeover of BG Group.

壳牌盈利大幅下跌尤其令投资者失望，因为这是壳牌完成对英国天然气集团(BG Group)350亿美元收购后的第一个完整季度。

Shares in Shell fell 3.1 per cent to ￡19.80 after the results on Thursday morning.

周四上午该消息公布后，壳牌股价下跌3.1%，至19.80美元。

The addition of BG assets helped lift production by 28 per cent to 3.508m barrels of oil equivalent per day. But this was offset by depreciation charges related to the deal as well as the weak market conditions.

英国天然气集团的加入将壳牌产量提升了28%，至每天350.8万桶石油当量。但这一提升被此笔交易相关折旧费以及疲软的市场环境抵消。

On a current cost of supplies basis — the measure most closely watched by analysts — second quarter earnings were $1.05bn, down from $3.76bn in the same period last year. Analysts’ consensus forecast had been for $2.2bn.

基于当前供应成本——分析师最关注的数据——二季度盈利为10.5亿美元，去年同期为37.6亿美元。分析师此前普遍预期为22亿美元。

Ben van Beurden, chief executive, said low prices “continue to be a significant challenge across the business”, particularly in upstream production. But he insisted integration of BG was going well, while cost cuts were improving underlying performance.

壳牌石油首席执行官范伯登(Ben van Beurden)表示油价低“依然对整个行业形成显著挑战”，尤其是对上游生产。但他坚称对英国天然气集团的整合进展顺利，同时成本削减也提高了基本业绩。

There was some comfort for shareholders from a quarterly dividend of 47 cents — unchanged from last year. But the financial strain on Shell was evident in the rise in its debt leverage ratio from 12.7 per cent at this time last year to 28.1 per cent now, mainly as a result of the BG acquisition.

股东的季度股利为47美分，与去年持平，让股东得到了一些安慰。但壳牌资金紧张明显表现在债务杠杆比率的上升，去年此时为12.7%，现在升到28.1%，这主要是收购英国天然气集团所致。

Mr van Beurden has committed to a $30bn asset disposal plan to offset the cost of the BG deal but Shell admitted last month that the process could be delayed because of the pressure from low oil prices on asset prices.

范伯登已承诺计划剥离300亿美元资产，以抵消收购英国天然气集团的成本。但壳牌上个月承认由于低油价对资产价格施加的压力，该计划可能被延迟。

Shell said on Thursday that capital expenditure for the full year would be $29bn, compared with combined investment of $47bn by Shell and BG in 2014 — highlighting the squeeze being placed on the group.

壳牌周四表示全年资本开支预计290亿美元，壳牌与英国天然气集团2014年共投资470亿美元，两相对比凸显壳牌集团负担沉重。

“We are managing the company through the down-cycle by reducing costs, by delivering on lower and more predictable investment levels, executing our asset sales plans and starting up profitable new projects,” said Mr van Beurden.

范伯登表示：“我们正设法让公司度过下降周期，方式包括降低管理成本，实现较低的、更可预测的投资水平，执行我们的资产出售计划，并展开利润丰厚的新项目。”