Daily Mail – London: KRTBN; Jan 29, 2006
Royal Dutch Shell is expected to make corporate history on Thursday when it announces the biggest profits from a UK company.
The figures, the first since the group merged its UK and Dutch sides last summer, are expected to show before-tax profits of GBP12.9 billion, up from GBP9.4 billion last year.
But Shell is unlikely to retain its record for long. Oil rival BP, Britain's biggest company, will release full-year figures next week, and some analysts predict pre-tax profits could top GBP18 billion.