Shell cancels scrip dividend programme

Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell will cancel its scrip dividend programme in the second quarter of the year.

Scrip dividends allow investors to take their dividend payouts in the form of cash or shares. However, Shell said it will revert to cash payouts only from the time its interim dividend is announced on 31 July 2014, with no shares-based alternative to be offered in the future. The move is designed to make its share buyback programme more efficient, the group said.  Investors can still opt to receive the Q1 payout on 26 June in either cash or shares. Shell paid out $16bn to shareholders over the course of 2013, including both dividends and share buybacks. The first quarter 2014...