LONDON, July 24: Royal Dutch/Shell Group, the world’s second-largest oil firm, reported a consensus-beating 51 per cent rise in second-quarter profits on Thursday but said it would not buy back more shares this year.

Chairman Philip Watts said the buyback decision would help save cash to continue growing its dividend above inflation.

“The lack of more share buybacks was a big let-down,” said Canada Life fund manager Dave Bradbury, whose portfolio includes Shell shares.

Shell is the first of the world’s top three oil groups to publish second-quarter results. The biggest Exxon Mobil and number three BP follow next week and analysts said Shell’s results heralded similar bumper profits for those two.

The companies have been producing some of the largest quarterly profits ever recorded by publicly traded companies, helped by oil prices that have soared on the back of war in Iraq and supply disruptions in Nigeria and Venezuela.

Shell’s net profit for the second quarter, adjusted to reflect the current cost of supply, surged to $3.34 billion, helped by higher margins for fuel refining and marketing and higher natural gas prices in the United States.

The second-quarter profits were below record profits of $3.9 billion in the first quarter, due to a dip in crude oil prices.—Reuters