Shell Shares Gain Despite Weaker Earnings

Shell (RDS.A) () shares gained firmly in London on Thursday despite a weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter earnings report.

Shell said earnings fell 44% in the final three months of 2016, but the oil giant said it was making progress in its restructuring. Earnings on a current supply basis came in at $1.03 billion, compared with $1.8 billion in the same quarter last year, missing analysts' forecast of $2.8 billion.

Production for the year, however, gained nearly 25%, owing in part to its BG acquisition in February of last year.