KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 15): Petronas Gas Bhd's (PetGas) net profit for the second quarter ended June 30, 2018 rose 20% to RM509.33 million from RM425.33 million a year earlier, on the back of higher revenue and lower tax expenses negated by higher finance cost.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, PetGas said revenue for the quarter climbed to RM1.36 billion from RM1.17 billion previously.

PetGas declared an interim dividend of 16 sen per share, payable on Sept 14.

For the six months ended June 30, PetGas' net profit rose to RM992.55 million from RM888.56 million a year ago. Revenue for the period stood at RM2.71 billion versus RM2.34 billion in the previous year.

Reviewing its performance, PetGas said its gas processing plants achieved 100% reliability, maintaining world-class standards.

"Liquid plant extraction performance consistently exceeded targets throughout the quarter, resulting in higher tranches of performance-based structure income earned compared to corresponding quarter," it said.

On its prospects, PetGas said it is in continuous discussion with the Energy Commission to finalise the tariff guidelines for gas transportation and regasification services beyond 2018.

"The group's performance is therefore expected to remain stable on the back of its strong and sustainable income streams from existing Gas Processing Agreement, Gas Transportation Agreements and Regasification Service Agreement signed with Petronas," it said.