Transaction in Own Shares
Rhea-AI Summary
Shell (SHEL) announced on 04 December 2025 that it purchased 1,457,504 shares for cancellation as part of its ongoing buy-back programme.
Aggregated trades by venue show 732,476 shares on the LSE at a VWAP of 28.0359 GBP and 725,028 shares on XAMS at a VWAP of 32.1490 EUR. No trades were reported on several other venues listed.
The purchases form part of the on- and off-market limbs of the programme announced 30 October 2025, with Merrill Lynch International making independent trading decisions for the programme running to 30 January 2026. Transactions comply with UK MAR and EU MAR as onshored into UK law.
Positive
- 1,457,504 shares repurchased on 04/12/2025
- LSE VWAP 28.0359 GBP; XAMS VWAP 32.1490 EUR
Negative
- Buy-back programme limited to window ending 30 January 2026
- No reported purchases on multiple listed trading venues on 04/12/2025
Key Figures
Market Reality Check
Peers on Argus
Large-cap integrated peers (CVX, XOM, TTE, BP, PBR) all showed positive moves (e.g., XOM up 1.6%, BP up 1.5%), consistent with SHEL’s pre-news gain of 1.57%, suggesting a broadly constructive backdrop for the group even though no sector-wide momentum signal was triggered.
Historical Context
| Date | Event | Sentiment | Move | Catalyst |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dec 02 | Share buy-back | Neutral | -0.5% | Daily disclosure of shares purchased for cancellation under October 2025 buy-back. |
| Nov 28 | Share buy-back | Neutral | +0.5% | Announcement of 1.49M shares repurchased across LSE and XAMS venues. |
| Nov 28 | Voting rights update | Neutral | +0.5% | Update on total voting rights and share count including recent buy-backs. |
| Nov 26 | Share buy-back | Neutral | +0.8% | Disclosure of LSE and XAMS daily repurchases under ongoing programme. |
| Nov 25 | Share buy-back | Neutral | -0.6% | Report of 1.50M shares bought back and cancelled across LSE and XAMS. |
Recent buy-back and capital/voting updates have been followed by small mixed price moves, indicating modest, non-directional reactions to these routine disclosures.
Over the last weeks, Shell has repeatedly reported daily repurchases under its buy-back programme announced on 30 October 2025, with multiple “Transaction in Own Shares” updates on 25, 26, 28, and 02 December 2025. A separate notice on 28 November 2025 detailed total voting rights of 5,750,420,233 shares. Price reactions over 24 hours have been modest, between about -0.6% and +0.8%, suggesting these buy-back disclosures have behaved like routine corporate updates.
Regulatory & Risk Context
Short interest at 0.16% of float with 3.67 days to cover indicates limited short positioning, reducing the likelihood that buy-back news interacts with crowded short risk or squeeze dynamics.
Market Pulse Summary
This announcement details another day of repurchases under Shell’s buy-back programme running from 30 October 2025 to 30 January 2026, with purchases on both LSE and XAMS for cancellation. It follows several similar updates in late November and early December. The repurchases are carried out under UK Listing Rules and EU/UK MAR. Observers may track cumulative buy-back volumes, changes in total voting rights, and ongoing regulatory filings to gauge the programme’s scale and consistency.
AI-generated analysis. Not financial advice.
Transaction in Own Shares
04 December, 2025
• • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •
Shell plc (the ‘Company’) announces that on 04 December, 2025 it purchased the following number of Shares for cancellation.
Aggregated information on Shares purchased according to trading venue:
| Date of purchase | Number of Shares purchased | Highest price paid | Lowest price paid | Volume weighted average price paid per share | Venue | Currency |
| 04/12/2025 | 732,476 | 28.1600 | 27.9200 | 28.0359 | LSE | GBP |
| 04/12/2025 | - | - | - | - | Chi-X (CXE) | GBP |
| 04/12/2025 | - | - | - | - | BATS (BXE) | GBP |
| 04/12/2025 | 725,028 | 32.2700 | 31.9950 | 32.1490 | XAMS | EUR |
| 04/12/2025 | - | - | - | - | CBOE DXE | EUR |
| 04/12/2025 | - | - | - | - | TQEX | EUR |
These share purchases form part of the on- and off-market limbs of the Company's existing share buy-back programme previously announced on 30 October 2025.
In respect of this programme, Merrill Lynch International will make trading decisions in relation to the securities independently of the Company for a period from 30 October 2025 up to and including 30 January 2026.
The on-market limb will be effected within certain pre-set parameters and in accordance with the Company’s general authority to repurchase shares on-market. The off-market limb will be effected in accordance with the Company’s general authority to repurchase shares off-market pursuant to the off-market buyback contract approved by its shareholders and the pre-set parameters set out therein. The programme will be conducted in accordance with Chapter 9 of the UK Listing Rules and Article 5 of the Market Abuse Regulation 596/2014/EU dealing with buy-back programmes (“EU MAR”) and EU MAR as “onshored” into UK law from the end of the Brexit transition period (at 11:00 pm on 31 December 2020) through the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended by the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020), and as amended, supplemented, restated, novated, substituted or replaced by the Financial Services Act, 2021 and relevant statutory instruments (including, The Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations (SI 2019/310)), from time to time (“UK MAR”) and the Commission Delegated Regulation (EU) 2016/1052 (the “EU MAR Delegated Regulation”) and the EU MAR Delegated Regulation as “onshored” into UK law from the end of the Brexit transition period (at 11:00 pm on 31 December 2020) through the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 (as amended by the European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Act 2020), and as amended, supplemented, restated, novated, substituted or replaced by the Financial Services Act, 2021 and relevant statutory instruments (including, The Market Abuse (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations (SI 2019/310)), from time to time.
In accordance with EU MAR and UK MAR, a breakdown of the individual trades made by Merrill Lynch International on behalf of the Company as a part of the buy-back programme is detailed below.
Enquiries
Media: International +44 (0) 207 934 5550; U.S. and Canada: https://www.shell.us/about-us/news-and-insights/media/submit-an-inquiry.html
Attachment
FAQ
How many shares did Shell (SHEL) repurchase on 04 December 2025?
What were the VWAPs for Shell (SHEL) buybacks on 04/12/2025?
Is the Shell (SHEL) buy-back programme still ongoing after 04 December 2025?
Who made trading decisions for Shell's (SHEL) buy-back on 04/12/2025?
Were all trading venues used for Shell (SHEL) purchases on 04 December 2025?
