PETRONAG GAS BERHAD'S GAS PROCESSING PLANT IN KERTHE, TERENGGANU. PICTURE COURTESY OF PETRONAS GAS
KUALA LUMPUR: Petronas Gas Bhd
’s (PetGas) utilities business, which is tax exempted for five years, contributed to improvements in both the company’s revenue and bottom line for the first quarter (Q1) ended March 31.
In its latest quarterly financial report to Bursa Malaysia, the Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) subsidiary said it posted a net profit of RM463.24mil, up 3.6% from a year ago, thanks mainly to a lower tax expense due to the tax exemption given to its utilities business,
Profit before taxation, however, was slightly lower by RM1.7mil, mainly due to higher operating costs attributed to one-off staff costs adjustment and depreciation expense in line with completion of major capital projects.
All of PetGas’ operating segments other than regasification - i.e. gas processing, gas transportation and utilities - recorded lower profits,
Revenue for the quarter, meanwhile, grew to RM1.17bil from RM1.13bil a year earlier.
PetGas said this was mainly contributed by a higher utilities revenue in tandem with a higher offtake by customers, as well as higher sales prices following the fuel gas price revision and the higher regasification revenue attributed to higher storage fees.
On its prospects, the company expects group performance to remain stable in 2017 despite the challenging economic environment. This is on the back of its strong and sustainable income streams from existing gas processing, gas transportation and regasification service agreements signed with parent company Petronas.
It added that the utilities segment would continue to contribute positively to the group’s results.
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