Energy giant Royal Dutch Shell yesterday announced plunging quarterly profits, with outgoing chief executive Peter Voser blaming the “disappointing” results on a shale asset write-down and unrest in Nigeria. Net profits slumped 57% in the second quarter compared with the equivalent period a year earlier, the Anglo-Dutch group said in an earnings statement. Profit after tax dived to $1.737bn (€1.308bn) in the three months to June 30 compared with $4.1bn in the second quarter of 2012. Shell said it was hit by a net charge of $1.84bn, including impairments of $2.0bn, “predominantly related to liquids-rich shales properties in North America” following new exploration information. It is a blow for Shell, coming as North America is experiencing a boom in both oil and gas production extracted from shale rock. Voser added that oil theft and disruptions to gas supplies in major crude producer Nigeria were causing widespread environmental damage and could cost the Nigerian government $12bn in lost annual revenue. Thieves are known to tap pipelines to syphon crude for sale on the lucrative black market, while such illegal activity can lead to explosions, fires and oil pollution. The International Energy Agency last month said that such theft was one factor in a fall of output by the Organization of Peteroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) of which Nigeria is a member. Shell yesterday added that its current cost of supplies (CCS), a profit figure that excludes gains or losses from energy inventories, slumped 60% to $2.39bn in the second quarter. Excluding one-off charges, the CCS profit was $4.6bn, down 20% and below average expectations of $5.9bn according to a poll by Dow Jones Newswires.ExxonMobilUS oil giant ExxonMobil yesterday reported a 57% drop in earnings due to exceptional items and lower refinery margins, missing analyst expectations by a wide margin. Exxon, the largest US oil company, said second-quarter earnings came in at $6.9bn on revenues of $106.5bn, compared with year-ago profits of $15.9bn on revenues of $127.4bn. The results translated into $1.55 per share, compared with expectations of $1.90. The year-ago results were inflated by a number of one-time items, including a $5.3bn gain associated with the restructuring of its downstream and chemical operations in Japan. Exxon continued to struggle with maintaining oil and gas output, seeing a 1.9% drop in oil-equivalent production from the prior year. Refinery margins were also weaker, reducing earnings by $510mn. Exxon has ramped up capital spending in recent years to replace and grow output. Capital spending rose 10% in the quarter to $10.2bn. Societe GeneraleFrench banking giant Societe Generale more than doubled its net profits in the second quarter, it reported yesterday, boosting the shares by more than 9%. Profits for the three months ending June reached €955mn ($1.26bn), up 119% from the figure in the same quarter last year. That exceeded market expectations by a wide margin. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast net earnings of €608mn. Net banking income, a key measure for a bank showing the difference between the cost of rewarding depositors and the price of lending, had been expected to fall by 7.7% but instead rested practically stable, dipping 0.6% to €6.23mn. It also lowered its commercial cost of risk, the cost of making provisions for possible losses on risky assets, to the lowest level for nearly two years. Societe Generale said it had raised its ratio of core shareholder funds and retained earnings to risks underwritten to 9.4%, on the basis of Basel III prudential rules which take full effect at the beginning of 2019. Excluding exceptional items the bank posted a return on equity of 10% in the quarter, a level Societe Generale aims to maintain from the end of 2015. Fixed-term deposits in France were up 27% from the figure for the same period last year, while special savings accounts which enjoy certain advantages under the law were up 10.8%. Its international retail banking network also registered a rise of 5.3% in deposits on the back of a robust inflow in Russia, central and eastern Europe and sub-Saharan Africa. Internationally, the bank posted a net profit of €59mn, against a loss of €231mn due to writing down the value of its acquisition of its Russian unit Rosbank. The bank’s chief was arrested for corruption in a high-profile sting operation in May, but Societe Generale said the unit produced “encouraging results” with retail deposits up by 12% and consumer loans 16%. GeneraliItalian insurer Generali is still looking for buyers for its Swiss private banking business BSI, but won’t sell if the price isn’t right, company executives said yesterday.The sale of BSI, which has an estimated book value of 2.3bn Swiss francs ($2.5bn), is important for Generali as the proceeds would help it shore up its capital and cut debt.The company said its operating result rose 5.3% to €2.4bn, driven by a 25% increase at its property and casualty business. In the life segment, the operating result fell 7% to €1.5bn, even as premiums grew 2.2%.Generali is seeking to raise €4bn from the sale of non-core assets to boost its capital and restore value under CEO Mario Greco, appointed a year ago. The company said in a slide presentation it had so far raised €2.3bn from disposals.Procter & GambleUS consumer goods giant Procter & Gamble reported a 48% drop in quarterly earnings yesterday due to an asset sale but bested expectations on higher revenues. P&G, a component of the Dow index, said fourth-quarter net income was $1.9bn on revenues of $20.7bn, compared with net income in the year-ago period of $3.6bn on revenues of $20.2bn. The 2012 period included profits from Pringles, which was sold by P&G to Kellogg Company. The 2013 results were also hit by some other charges, including a foreign exchange charge of 6¢ per share. The results translated into “core” earnings of 79¢ per share, 2¢ higher than analyst expectations. Revenues came in about $95mn above expectations. P&G said net earnings increased in its beauty, grooming and healthcare segments. But the company saw profit declines in its fabric care/home care and baby care/family care segments. Volumes were higher in four of five segments. Pricing was unchanged compared with last year. Apache CorpApache Corp, an oil and natural gas exploration and production company, reported a quarterly profit yesterday that matched Wall Street’s expectations, helped by a surge in shale operations.The company, which sold off its Gulf of Mexico shelf assets last month, has been focusing more on onshore production and said its North American onshore liquids production rose 42% to 175,000 barrels per day in the quarter.For the second quarter, Apache reported net income of $1.02bn, or $2.54 per share, compared with $337mn, or 86 cents per share, in the year-ago quarter. Excluding hedging losses and other one-time items, Apache earned $2.01 per share. By that measure, Apache’s earnings matched Wall Street’s expectations, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Revenue rose 10% to $4.38bn. Analysts had expected $4.28bn in revenue.Separately yesterday, the company reported seven oil and natural gas discoveries across Egypt’s Western Desert. Apache is selling its Gulf of Mexico shelf assets for $3.75bn to private equity firm Riverstone Holdings to focus more on its US onshore assets.Lloyds Banking GroupBritain’s state-rescued Lloyds Banking Group returned to first-half net profit yesterday, just as the government looks to return the bank to the private sector. LBG posted profit after tax of £1.56bn ($2.36bn, €1.79bn) in the six months to June 30, which compared with a net loss of £697mn for the first half of 2012, the bank said in an earnings statement. LBG, 39% owned by the British taxpayer, has been boosted since the start of the year by rising income, deep cost-cutting and a drop in bad loans. British Finance Minister George Osborne recently announced that he was considering share sale options for the bank as the government seeks to return it to the private sector along with bailed-out Royal Bank of Scotland.CME GroupCME Group, the world’s biggest futures exchange operator, reported a 27% rise in quarterly profit, beating analysts’ expectations, as trading surged.Net income rose to $311.2mn in the second quarter, or 93¢ a share, from a year-earlier $244.9mn, or 74¢ a share, the Chicago-based exchange operator said yesterday. Analysts on average had expected net income of 89¢ a share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.CME, which operates the Chicago Board of Trade and the New York Mercantile Exchange among other domestic futures markets, plans to open its first exchange abroad, in London, later this year.Revenue at the company rose to $816.1mn in the quarter, from $795.9mn a year earlier, as trading at CME’s exchanges rose 16%, to a daily average of 14.3mn contracts.Expenses fell to $308.3mn, from $326.7mn, the company reported.CME ended the quarter with cash and marketable securities on hand of $2bn.ChesapeakeChesapeake Energy Corp reported a better-than-expected quarterly profit yesterday as it produced more crude oil than Wall Street targeted.Chesapeake, the second largest US producer of natural gas, said oil production in the quarter rose 44% to 116,000 barrels per day (bpd). It raised its crude output forecast for the full year. Analysts at Bernstein Research had estimated Chesapeake’s oil production at 105,000 bpd in the quarter.Second-quarter profit at the Oklahoma City-based company fell to $457mn, or 66¢ per share, from $929mn, or $1.29 per share, a year earlier. But adjusting for one-time items, Chesapeake had a profit of 51¢ per share. Analysts, on average, expected 41¢ per share, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.BarrickBarrick Gold Corp posted a second-quarter loss yesterday, hit by a massive $8.7bn impairment charge resulting from declining metal prices, and cut its dividend by 75%.The world’s largest gold producer also lowered its capital spending forecast for the year by about 20% and cut its long-term gold production target.Barrick lowered its cost forecast for both copper and gold production in 2013. It now expects its average all-in sustaining cost to be $900 to $975 per gold ounce.The miner reported a loss of $8.56bn, or $8.55 per share, compared with a year-earlier profit of $787mn, or 79 cents per share.Excluding one-time items like the impairment charge, earnings were 66¢ a share, above the analysts’ average estimate of 56¢, according to Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.Revenue fell 1.3% to $3.20bn.The company said that due to the delay at its Pascua-Lama mine in South America, changes to other mine plans and the likelihood of further asset sales, it was no longer targeting 8mn ounces of gold a year by 2016. Barrick cut its quarterly dividend to 5¢ a share from 20¢.Sony, SharpJapanese electronics giants Sony and Sharp yesterday pointed to better times ahead after announcing improved quarterly results thanks to an overhaul of their businesses and a weaker yen. Sony said it had swung back to a net profit of $35mn for the April-June quarter, reversing a year-earlier loss as it boosted its annual sales forecast. It also saw a small operating profit in its dented television business and said smartphone sales were picking up. And Sharp served up some rare good news, saying it had shrunk its net loss between April and June, while returning to the black at the operating level. Last year the firm warned it may go out of business as it scrambled to secure crucial bank loans while offering its Osaka headquarters as collateral. In the latest quarter, the maker of Aquos-brand electronics reported a net loss of ¥17.98bn ($183mn) in its fiscal first quarter, well down from a ¥138.4bn shortfall a year earlier. Sony’s ¥3.5bn quarterly net profit reversed a net loss of ¥24.6bn a year earlier. It also lifted its fiscal full-year sales target to ¥7.9tn, from ¥7.5tn. At the operating level, Sony said profit soared more than five-fold. The improving results come after Sony said in May it had booked its first annual net profit in five years, offering a glimmer of hope for the former market leader. But its jump back into the black was largely due to fluctuations in the value of the yen and gains from a string of asset sales — including unloading its Manhattan office building for more than $1.0bn. Sharp, meanwhile, said it returned to the black on the operating side, reversing a ¥94.13bn loss a year before. Sharp credited its improved results to cost cutting and rising sales of products such as smartphones equipped with its prized IGZO screen technology and solar batteries. The Osaka-based firm left unchanged its full-year forecast, estimating a net profit of ¥5.0bn on sales of ¥2.7tn.BMWGerman top-of-the-range car maker BMW posted a higher-than-expected increase in second-quarter net profit yesterday despite a weak European market. Net profit rose by 9% to €1.4bn ($1.9bn) for the period compared to a year earlier, exceeding the 6.1% rise forecast by analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires. Sales, on the other hand, which rose by 1.8% to €19.5bn, were slightly lower than forecast, while underlying or operating profit, as measured by earnings before interest and tax (EBIT), dropped. The group said investment in new technology, higher personnel costs and greater competition led second-quarter EBIT to slip 8.8% to €2.1bn.ArcelorMittalSteelmaking giant ArcelorMittal reported a big loss for the second quarter yesterday and downgraded its targets for the year, but said it had reached the low point of the downturn for its business. The group, the biggest maker of steel in the world, said that in the quarter it made a loss of $780mn (€589.3mn) in contrast to a net profit of $1.0bn in the same period of last year. This loss was twice that of the $345mn deficit reported in the first quarter of this year. In view of this weak overall first-half loss of about $1.12bn, the group lowered its target for the year for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (Ebitda). It now put this target at more than $6.5bn, instead of at least $7.1bn. The group said that an increase in working capital and payment of the dividend would increase debt in the second half to about $17bn. Nevertheless the group was holding to its medium-term target of reducing this to $15bn. In the second quarter the Ebitda figure, roughly equivalent to operating profit, amounted to $1.7bn, marking a 33% fall on a 12-month basis in line with market expectations as polled by Dow Jones Newswires. For the whole of the first six months, the fall was 30.0% to $3.26bn. In the second quarter, sales fell by 10.1% to $20.2bn, and in the first six months by 11.6%. Reliance CommunicationsReliance Communications, India’s third-largest mobile-phone company by market value, reported first-quarter profit that missed analysts’ estimates after finance costs increased. Net income fell 33% to Rs1.08bn ($17.9mn) in the three months ended June, from Rs1.62bn a year earlier, the Mumbai-based company said in a statement yesterday. That lagged behind the Rs1.49bn median of 18 analysts’ estimates complied by Bloomberg. The carrier posted its 15th drop in profit in 16 quarters after finance costs increased as the rupee weakened 8.6% against the dollar last quarter.Total revenue reached Rs53.2bn in the quarter from Rs52.6bn a year earlier, according to the statement. The company’s wireless revenue increased 4.1% from the quarter ended in March to Rs48.2bn.