The shares of Royal Dutch Shell (LSE: RDSB) (NYSE: RDS-B.US) climbed 7p to 2,228p during early trade this morning after the oil major announced Ben van Beurden would become its new chief executive.
The FTSE 100 member said Mr van Beurden would take the top job at the start of next year. He will replace Peter Voser, who will leave Shell at the end of March 2014 following 29 years at the company.
Mr van Beurden joined Shell during 1983 and has been in his current role of Downstream Director since January.
Commenting on the board appointment, Jorma Ollila, Shell’s chairman, said:
“Ben has deep knowledge of the industry and proven executive experience across a range of Shell businesses. Ben will continue to drive and further develop the strategic agenda that we have set out, to generate competitive returns for our shareholders.“
Peter Voser announced his retirement in May at the same time Shell issued its first-quarter figures. Those numbers showed underlying earnings up 3% to $7.5bn and the quarterly dividend up 5%.
Annualising those quarterly figures gives potential earnings above £3 a share and a possible dividend of around 120p per share. Those projections equate to a P/E of 7 and a yield of more than 5%.
Of course, whether those ratings, the appointment of Mr van Beurden and the general outlook for multinational oil companies all combine to make Shell a ‘buy’ right now is something only you can decide.
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> Maynard does not own any share mentioned in this article.
