London-based Royal Dutch-Shell, the world’s second-biggest company,...

London-based Royal Dutch-Shell, the world’s second-biggest company, posted lower than expected profit for its third quarter, blaming the shortfall on lower crude prices. Although the figure was a 20% jump on income over the same period of 1985, the result was seen as disappointing by analysts. The firm said that the reason for the profit rise in the latest quarter was mainly due to restructuring costs last year. At the same, it disclosed that exploration expenses also were higher than in the same quarter of last year, partly because of its decision to abandon an exploration venture in Algeria and suspend its offshore program off Canada’s east coast.