Anglo-Dutch oil concern Royal Dutch Shell on Thursday announced a 11% increase in net profit to $6.7bn for the fourth quarter. The result was better than analysts had expected ($6.1bn), reported Financieele Dagblad.

The company’s full-year net profit was $27.6bn, the highest ever booked by a European company, the paper said.
Shell said turnover for the fourth quarter was up 41% to $106.bn. Shareholders will get a dividend payment of $1.36 per ordinary share for the fourth quarter (up from 0.84 for the same 2006 period), it said.
Despite the positive results, Shell struggled to meet its own production targets (between 3.3 and 3.5 barrels of oil a day) in the fourth quarter said the Financieele Dagblad.
In a statement Shell chairman Jeroen van der Veer said: ‘The refinery margins were generally weak,’ but he also said that he was ‘satisfied’ with the results per saldo.