Royal Dutch Shell PLC, Europe's largest oil company, has reported a 45 percent fall in net profit for the first quarter after it wrote down the book value of refineries in Asia and Europe, according to the Associated Press.
Net profit was $4.51 billion (3.27 billion euros), down from $8.18 billion in the same period a year ago, including a $2.29 billion charge on the refineries, notably the Bukom refinery in Singapore.
Shell said that stripping out various charges and fluctuations in the price of oil, profits were down 3 percent. Its production arm increased underlying earnings to $5.71 billion from $5.65 billion, while its refining arm saw earnings shrink to $1.58 billion from $1.85 billion.
Chief Executive Ben van Beurden said refining margins on the whole are under pressure from excess capacity.
