Shell to raise dividends again despite 30% fall in annual profits

Plan to raise shareholder payouts by 4% follows surprise $7.3bn profit in final quarter despite fall in gas prices

Shell's investors can expect another year of growing payouts after the oil company reported better than expected profits of more than $28bn (22bn) for 2023 in one of its most profitable years on record.

Shell's profits tumbled by almost a third to $28.3bn last year, from record high profits of $40bn at the peak of the global energy crisis in 2022, after a cooling of oil and gas markets.