Shell NZ after tax profit of $240 million

SHELL NEW ZEALAND
Media Statement
For Immediate Release
26 June 2003

Shell New Zealand announces after tax profit of $240 million

The Shell New Zealand companies today announced a record after tax profit of $239.9 million for the 2002 year. This is an increase of 19.5 percent over that achieved in 2001 ($200.8 million).

This profit result was generated on an asset base of $3.75 billion, representing a relatively modest return on assets of 6.4 percent.

The Exploration and Production (EP) business contributed $153 million to the 2002 profit, while the Oil Products (OP) business posted $86.9 million profit.

Shell Chairman, Dr. Lloyd Taylor, said today, “A strong underlying operational performance in all business sectors was assisted by high average oil prices, combined with the first full year contribution from the 2001 acquisition of Fletcher Challenge Energy.

“However, the headline result is not necessarily representative of the underlying performance of each business. The Oil Products business was assisted by substantial stock holding valuation gains due to rising oil prices. Corrected for this, the underlying 2002 Oil Products business result was a reduction of 11 percent relative to that achieved in 2001, reflecting the intensely competitive retail and commercial fuels markets.

“On the other hand, the Exploration and Production business profit was adversely impacted by a $148 million foreign exchange accounting loss, thus understating the underlying operational performance which was up some 75 percent on that achieved
in 2001.”

ENDS

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