*That's a Uk Record Profit of One Million Pounds an Hour

Summary

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Oil giant Shell set a new record for a UK company yesterday after annual profits gushed to pounds 9.3bn _ equivalent to more than pounds 1m an hour. The figure, which was 38% higher than a year ago, revived calls in some quarters for companies such as Shell to be subject to a windfall tax.: Business and political leaders to give their views on Shell's record profits:Russell Lawson, spokesman for the Federation of Small Businesses in Wales:WHILE Shell had benefited from the oil price many small enterprises had been hit by higher fuel costs. Small businesses have vans and need to get around, and the price of fuel is becoming a major factor in their expenditure,' he said.

It is very difficult to justify this kind of profit when on one hand you are saying things are hard and you don't know what's going to happen in the Middle East and on the other hand you are raking it in. 'In the oil sector there are just a few big players that seem to be able to charge what they think they can get away with.': Conservative economic development spokesman Alun Cairns:I AM broadly relaxed about these profits when you look at the capital investment made by Shell. Half of the pounds 9.6bn will go in the form of dividends to shareholders, with the company's own stake being retained for further investment.

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*That's a Uk Record Profit of One Million Pounds an Hour

Dividend payments will be ploughed back into the UK economy, which is a positive t...

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